C06: Brain mechanisms differentiating aggressive vs. non-aggressive psychopathology as sequelae of early life maltreatment

Identify specific neuronal mechanisms related to the NVS and CS in female and male clinical samples with a history of early-life maltreatment (ELM) who exhibit externalizing, aggressive psychopathologies as opposed to internalizing, non-aggressive psychopathologies. We will therefore explore the interaction of the NVS and CS as well as the modulating effects of theory-of-mind (ToM) on the NVS and CS using a series of fMRI and behavioral tasks. Furthermore, we will investigate the role of hormonal stress responses and will use EMA to assess anger and aggression in everyday life. Thus, we will be able to combine behavioral phenotyping in natural conditions of everyday life and neurobiological correlates of psychopathology in order to detect clinically relevant biosignatures for AMD.