SIU scientist studying brain mechanisms to find roots of aggression

SIU School of Medicine research scientist Jacob Nordman, PhD, has been awarded a $445,500 grant to uncover how the effects of stress on the brain in childhood can lead to long-lasting aggressive behavior in adults.

Using innovative technology like viral tracing and imaging on specific circuits in the brain, his research team hopes to identify new ways to detect, manage and ultimately treat aggression.

Nordman is an assistant professor of molecular and integrative physiology in SIU School of Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, cross-appointed with the Department of Pharmacology.

“Social isolation and traumatic stress can affect your health in many ways in adolescence. Reactions and coping mechanisms made when we are young can literally change the brain’s structure and function, sometimes to our long-term detriment,” said Nordman. “We want to find the cellular pathways that contribute to these later aggressive tendencies.”

His Carbondale team has designed studies to detect minute changes in animal models of aggression. The work could aid in the development of new drug targets for improved treatment of excessive and recurring aggression. The results could eventually lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for the management of pathological anger and aggression.

“Each new connection we pinpoint could generate information for better care options in the future,” Nordman said.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is supporting the three-year study.