Half-time seminars Half-time control Gina Griffioen

Main supervisors

PhD Jacqueline Borg, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet 

Professor Simon Cervenka, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet 

Professor/psychologist Sven Bölte, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet  

Half-time review board

Assistant Professor Sebastian Lundström, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg 

Professor Tomas Furmark, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University 

Associate Professor Rochellys Diaz Heijtz, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet 

Brief description

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is life-long disorder with poorly understood neurobiology. ASD is related to alterations in brain development. The process of synapse formation and elimination is likely disturbed, probably causing a different organization of the brain and its circuits. Many processes are involved, and several mechanisms are identified for ASD, where changes in the excitatory/inhibitory balance and alterations in the serotonin system are two of these mechanisms. This thesis will try to contribute to a better understanding of the biological mechanisms behind ASD, by neuro-imaging synapse-density, the excitatory glutamate 5 receptor and parts of the serotonin system. We will also try to study ASD behaviour phenotypes in relation to these potential biomarkers. Lastly, we will try to address replication issues by using Bayesian statistics.