The metabolic lung-brain axis in aggressive behavior in patients with AMD (A08)

• Subject Area: Biological Psychiatry ; Clinical Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 512007073

Using MR spectroscopy. A08 aims to (1) identify whether acetone and other volatile organic compounds in breath are associated with aggression and acute threat processing in mental disorders and (2) to examine whether these breath markers are associated with direct metabolic brain correlates (like BHB, glutamate) and with the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in plasma. In a translational approach, (3) we will test if supplementation of BHB reduces aggressive behavior in mice.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 379: Neuropsychobiology of Aggression: A Transdiagnostic Approach in Mental Disorders
• Applicant Institution: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Ende; Professor Dr. Thomas Frodl; Professor Dr. David Slattery, Ph.D.