Milena Girotti, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor/Research

Personal Statement:

Personal statement The focus of my research is to determine how stress impacts orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) function leading to aberrant behavior and psychopathology. The OFC is a brain region that regulates higher order executive functions including the ability to control impulsive choices and actions (impulsivity) and the ability to modify behavior in the face of a change in the environment (cognitive flexibility). In the clinic many psychiatric conditions, ranging from obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, present with decreased OFC functionality.  Moreover, OFC impairments in impulse control and cognitive flexibility are greatly affected by chronic stress. One problem currently faced by the neuropsychiatric clinic is that deficits in executive function are difficult to treat with existing medications or non-pharmacological interventions. This is likely due to a poor understanding of the neurobiology underlying these complex behaviors. Thus, one goal of my research is to improve our conception of OFC connectivity and function, and how this is altered by stress, in the hope to provide a platform for the development of future therapeutics. Some of the specific questions I am interested in are:

• Explore which circuits are involved in OFC-depended behaviors and how they are impacted by stress.
• Determine whether flexibility and impulse control are modulated by overlapping or separate anatomical regions of the OFC.
• Determine what molecular events are involved in impulse control and cognitive flexibility and how stress impacts these signals.