Tohoku University Motoaki Sugiura Lab.

Dr. Stephane De Brito gave us a talk about his latest neuroimaging research on conduct disorder with the title "Neurocognitive profile of youth with conduct disorder: A focus on callous-unemotional traits and sex." It was
held as the 12th Human Brain Science Seminar,combining real and online settings; both the contents and settings were exciting. (Sugiura)

Abstract: Antisocial behaviour is a major public health problem. Children and adolescents with early onset conduct disorder have a poor prognosis with negative adult outcomes that frequently include criminality, alcohol and substance abuse, and poor mental and physical health. There is now a wealth of evidence indicating that youth with conduct disorder are a heterogeneous group reflecting different pathways through which conduct problems can emerge. In this talk, I will describe these different pathways from a developmental psychopathology perspective, with particular focus on the subgroups with low and high levels of callous-unemotional traits (lack of empathy and guilt) and females and males with conduct disorder. In particular, drawing on a recently completed European multisite neuroimaging study (FemNAT-CD), I will present recent experimental and neuroimaging work focusing on the correlates of face processing to show that callous-unemotional traits and sex identify subgroups of youth with conduct disorder with a particular neurocognitive profile. Finally, I will briefly discuss a neuroimaging collaboration with Prof Nobuhito Abe (Kokoro Research Centre, Kyoto University) examining the structural and functional correlates of various facets of impulsivity in Japanese individuals. 
 
Bio: Dr De Brito completed undergraduate studies in Psychology in Switzerland (University of Geneva), followed by a move to the United Kingdom to read for a MPhil in Criminology (University of Cambridge) and a PhD in Forensic Mental Health Science (King’s College London). Before moving to the University of Birmingham as a Birmingham Fellow in 2012, Dr De Brito was a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Developmental Risk and Resilience Unit in the Department of Psychology at University College London. He is now an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) and the Director of the Social, Cognitive, Affective, and Neuroscience (SCAN) Lab in the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH) at the University of Birmingham. During the first semester of 2020, Dr De Brito completed a JSPS and a Leverhulme Fellowships at the Kokoro Research Centre to start a collaboration with Prof Abe.
 
Websites: Kokoro Research Centre / University of Birmingham