ABOUT FANS SCIENCE MEETINGS
The Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences (FANS) hosts a range of seminars, training programmes and events open to staff, students and the wider public. The FANS Science Meetings are a series of seminars providing our invited internal and external speakers with the opportunity to present the latest research and developments from across the field. The meetings are also a lively forum for all to exchange knowledge and ideas and build connections across the department and beyond.

MEETING FOCUS

Talk 1:  Resting-state functional connectivity in autism: Reliability, motion correction, and pharmacological modulation - Mihail Dimitrov

Abstract: Brain-wide alterations in chemistry and network function have been reported and suggested to underlie many of the core and co-occurring symptoms observed in autism. In this talk, Misho will present data from the Shiftability group’s projects where he first explored methods for de-noising resting-state functional MRI data and then investigated the effect of the µ-opioid agonist tianeptine on network function in autism.
Bio: Misho is a PhD student in the FANS Shiftability group. His project investigates static and dynamic properties of resting-state functional networks in autism and how they could be modulated by pharmacological agents targeting autism-relevant chemical systems such as the glutamate/GABA, opioid and 5-HT systems. 

Talk 2: Investigating mechanisms associated with mental health in autism - Bethany Oakley

Abstract: Up to 70% of autistic people experience co-occurring neurodevelopmental and/or mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, which contribute to reduced quality of life. Consequently, developing new interventions (or adapting existing ones) that improve mental health represents the autistic community’s number one research priority. However, mechanisms underpinning mental health problems in autism are not well understood. In this talk, Beth will present her work using data from the EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project to investigate alexithymia as a mechanism for mental health symptoms in autism, and outline plans for a new trial of a novel app-based adapted CBT intervention for autistic people.
Bio: Beth is a PostDoc and scientific coordinator for AIMS-2-TRIALS, working in the FANS Department, where she also completed her PhD. Her research focuses on co-occurring mental health symptoms in autism, including impact on outcome, candidate mechanisms, and novel intervention approaches.

Click here to view the event poster

This event is open to all King's College London staff, students and the wider community. For more information please contact: marija-magdalena.petrinovic@kcl.ac.uk  
Email: fansevents@kcl.ac.uk to register your attendance.

ABOUT FANS
FANS is one of Europe’s largest research groups and one of the few teams in the world bringing together leading experts in brain development and pro and antisocial behaviours across the lifespan.  We are part of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), world-renowned for the quality of its research and for producing more highly cited publications in psychiatry and mental health (Scopus, 2016) than any other university in the world.