UCL in the News: My brain mapper

A leading psychologist at UCL believes this is possible. In fact, Peter Fonagy, professor of psychoanalysis at UCL and chief executive of the Anna Freud Centre for emotionally distressed children, is doing it already. By scanning the brains of toddlers, Fonagy believes that we can catch problems before they get out of hand. He is calling for such tests to be conducted routinely. …

"By using brain scans, rather than studying how children behave, we will be able to spot those who are in greatest need of intervention," says Professor Fonagy. …

As he points out, infants cannot articulate neglect or abuse, but their brain images can.

"The idea would be for parents to check if their kid's socio-emotional development is as expected. There would have to be no stigma attached. If a child needed a little developmental help, they could be put into a remedial programme, such as psychotherapy," Fonagy says. …

Fonagy shows the children photographs of faces expressing emotions such as anger and fear while they are rigged up to a brain scanner. The scanner reveals the activity in different areas of the brain, represented on a computer screen by different-coloured waves.

In the maltreated group, Professor Fonagy will be watching the parts of the brain that handle emotion and stress. …

If a child is ignored or abused, the brain areas that respond to stress proliferate, while the parts of the brain associated with healthy emotions remain underdeveloped. As a result, children can perceive everything around them as a threat and act impulsively, sometimes even violently.

However, not all badly treated children go on to become violent. Professor Fonagy believes that only one third of children exposed to such trauma develop serious problems. …

Clinicians believe that the earlier a problem is treated, the less entrenched it becomes. Professor Fonagy calls it a system of "targeted prevention" but accepts that his dream that such a system might one day become routine for all children is probably a long way off.

But, he says, the Government can't afford to ignore his findings. "Catching at-risk children early would have huge benefits in terms of reduction in self-harming, alcoholism, drug use and crime," he says. …

Professor Fonagy says shame isn't the aim; it's about catching problems early to ensure that a child grows up to be a healthy, happy individual. …

Jo Carlowe, 'The Times'