Faculty

Compulsive behaviors are a hallmark symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Striatal hyperactivity has been linked to compulsive behavior generation in humans and rodents. However, the contribution of the two distinct striatal output populations to the generation and treatment of compulsive behavior is unknown. These populations of direct and indirect pathway-projecting spiny projection neurons have...

Determining how disrupted neural activity gives rise to compulsive behaviors is vital for understanding obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is commonly thought that compulsive behaviors and cognitive rigidity share a pathological neural substrate owing to an association between compulsive behavior and abnormal performance and reaction times during reversal learning tasks in OCD. However, it is unknown whether...

We are delighted to announce that Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD, has received conferral of tenure at the rank of associate professor by the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Ahmari’s research focuses on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)—a highly prevalent and often highly debilitating disorder. Dr. Ahmari’s research focuses on developing and applying cutting-edge technologies to uncover neural mechanisms that can be...

Binge eating is a repetitive eating behavior frequently observed in individuals with eating disorder diagnoses, but its underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. Other repetitive behavior disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, are associated with corticostriatal circuitry dysfunction. However, to date, scientists working in the field of eating disorders have not investigated the in vivo neural...

Many Pitt Psychiatry faculty and trainees traveled to Phoenix—or participated remotely—for the 2022 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) annual meeting in early December! Below is Pitt Psychiatry news from the meeting: President’s Plenary Marta Peciña, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), was selected as a President’s Plenary presenter, and discussed the latest work on endogenous opioid...