Pharmaco-challenge and neurobiological studies on oxytocinergic and serotonergic transmission, Subproject FemNAT-CD, EU FP-7-Health

This project intends to advance the knowledge of female conduct disorder:

1. We will be able to perform for the first time an OXT challenge study in individuals with CD which has the potential to elucidate the mechanisms by which OXT might decrease RA.
2. We will compare females and males with CD on neuronal correlates of processing threatening social cues within one study design controlling for interacting sex hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone and thus following a gender-sensitive approach.
3. We will apply a model-based approach by using a paradigm which allows to detect OXT effects on behavioural (reflexive eye movements) and neuronal correlates (fMRI) of early attentional processing in response to threatening social cues as they are involved in emotion representation and recognition.

This project is performed in close interaction with the EU consortium “Neurobiology and Treatment of Adolescent Female Conduct Disorder: The Central Role of Emotion Processing” Coordinator: Prof. Christine Freitag, Frankfurt