Investigating the role of neuroinflammation in impulsivity

Impulsivity describes a tendency to rash, risky and poorly thought through decisions or actions and is associated with a number of neuropsychiatric disorders including ADHD, suicide and drug addiction. Burgeoning evidence suggests these disorders are associated with alterations in neuroinflammatory processes in the brain, to date however it is unknown whether impulsivity similarly shares this pathological hallmark. The project will examine the inflammatory profile of the brain of rats which naturally express high levels of impulsivity and determine whether therapeutics targeting neuroinflammation may modulate the expression of this behaviour.