Theme: Mechanisms

Project Description

Violent offending is associated with substantial human and economic costs, yet effective treatments for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) remain limited. Approximately one-third of individuals with ASPD meet additional criteria for psychopathy (ASPD+P). This group exhibits particularly pronounced empathy difficulties, more severe offending and poorer treatment outcomes than individuals with ASPD without psychopathy (ASPD−P). Understanding the mechanisms underlying these differences is essential for developing more targeted interventions.

The EmpaMEG project will investigate the neural and cognitive mechanisms of empathy in adults with ASPD+/-P, compared with healthy controls. A central focus will be developing and validating novel neural markers of empathy dysfunction, including investigating how these relate to individual differences in psychopathic traits. A key goal is to investigate the temporal dynamics of neural responses during cognitive and affective empathy using the EmpaToM task, alongside wearable optically pumped magnetometer magnetoencephalography (OPM-MEG).

The student will take ownership of a focused research question within this broader programme. Options include developing expertise in OPM-MEG analysis and the integration of neural and behavioural measures, independent methodological development and hypothesis generation, and computational modelling of decision-making and moral reasoning. The project also offers the opportunity to contribute to innovative pilot work investigating the effects of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) on empathy measures, through a developing collaboration with the lab of Professor Marcus Kaiser. A parallel feasibility arm in youths with Conduct Disorder, supported by Professor De Brito at UoB, provides a chance to develop a unique skillset in working with both youth and adult forensic populations.