Caitlin A. Orsini PhD

Caitlin Orsini is an Associate Faculty Member who works with Faculty Member Barry Setlow to recommend the scientific literature in their field. Broadly, my research focuses on understanding how risk taking contributes to and/or interacts with psychiatric diseases. One line of research I am pursuing is the relationship between substance abuse and risk taking. Our lab has shown that cocaine exposure leads to elevations in risk taking; I am interested in the neural mechanisms that underlie this behavioral impairment and how they may contribute to relapse after periods of abstinence.

In addition to drug addiction, I am interested in the association between risk taking and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is comorbid with substance abuse disorders and pathological gambling, both of which are characterized by increased risk taking. By using animal models of PTSD and risk taking, we are attempting to delineate the specific relationship between traumatic stress and risk taking and the neural circuitry that may mediate such alterations in behavior.