Hi everyone, my name is Abhinav Pillai and I’m a rising junior and neuroscience major here at Pitt. I work in Dr. Susanne Ahmari’s lab where we study the neural correlates of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in mice. OCD is a severe mental illness characterized by repeated behaviors (compulsions) and continuous unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) which affects 3 million people in the United States alone. Thus, trying to understand which areas of the brain contribute to the behaviors associated with OCD is imperative in treating this illness. 

My specific project revolves around determining if the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) plays a role in cognitive flexibility, which is a specific ability that individuals suffering from OCD lack. Essentially, cognitive flexibility involves altering decisions based off changes in contingencies. For example, if turning a wheel left brings a reward while turning right does not, and the side leading to the reward is flipped after some time, people suffering from OCD will continue to turn left despite not receiving any rewards.

The goal of my experiment is to train mice to become good at recognizes these changes in contingencies when turning the wheel, then to deactivate their mOFC’s using optogenetics. Essentially, if the mice become less successful at the task (receive less rewards or prompt less switches in contingencies) following ontogenetic deactivation of their mOFCs, then they will exhibit hindered cognitive flexibility, indicating that the mOFC plays a role in cognitive flexibility and OCD overall.  We can then use these findings to determine next steps in applying them to experiments or trials that can help determine treatments and develop deeper understandings of OCD 

My current professional goal is to go to med-school to become an MD or MD/Ph.D, but I am not very sure which path to take just yet. I think that HSRF will help me pursue this major goal through helping me develop connections through the honors college faculty and students within the program. Additionally, the HSRF will provide a lot of insight through the Tuesday and Friday meetings to get ideas about future steps regarding applications, scholarships, and ways to stand out. 

Again, I am a neuroscience major and I have a multitude of hobbies. My family has fostered dogs for several years now, and I continue that passion by volunteering at the animal shelter over the weekends. I also enjoy lifting weights and will be competing in my first powerlifting competition at the end of June.