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.
Education
Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry
University of Bristol
Bristol, England, U.K.
Research
• impulse control | • JAK2 signaling |
• stress | • orbitofrontal |
• mood disorders | • cognitive flexibility |
Awards & Accomplishments
CBN pilot grant – Girotti(PI) – Effect of stress on the trajectory of age-dependent cognitive decline (2017-2018) NIH-NIMH R21 – Girotti (PI) Morilak (Co-I) – A novel role for IL6/STAT3 signaling in orbitofrontal cortex in reversal learning (2013-2015) CBN Pilot Grant – Girotti (PI) – Investigating the cross-talk between norepinephrine signaling and interleukin 6 pathway in neuronal cell lines (2014-2015) NARSAD Young Investigator Grant Award (2013-2015)
Affiliations
Member of the Society for Neuroscience – 2004 to present
News
Lectures and Presentations Society for Biological Psychiatry, 67th Annual Scientific Convention – Philadelphia, PA – Spring 2013 Williamson, DE., Ramage, AE., Girotti, M., Morilak, DE., Olivera, RL., Walss-Bass, C. Stress-Induced Increases in Inflammation are Associated with White Matter Integrity and Increased Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Males (Oral Presentation) Catecholamine Research in the 21st Century: Abstracts and Graphical Abstracts, 10th International Catecholamine Symposium – Oxford, UK – Fall 2012 Morilak, DA., Bingham, B., Donegan, JJ., Girotti M., Jett, JD. Jekyll and Hyde: Noradrenergic modulation in acute and chronic stress. In L. Eiden (Ed.) Elsevier, p. 247 17th Annual Pharmacology Graduate Student Symposium – San Antonio, TX – Fall 2010 Girotti, M. Effects of chronic intermittent cold stress on the profile of inflammatory signals following acute immune and non-immune challenges in the rat brain (Oral Presentation)