Home Investigators Howard L. Fields, M.D., Ph.D. Fields Lab Members Charlotte A. Boettiger
Charlotte A. Boettiger PDF Print E-mail
charlotte.gifAssistant Professor, Department of Psychology

Contact Information:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
304 B Davie Hall
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270
Tel: (919) 962-2119
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

My primary research interest lies in understanding how neural circuits underlying executive control processes may be altered in addiction. By combining discrete cognitive tasks in human subjects with neuroimaging, pharmacology, physiological monitoring, and genetics, I am investigating how neuromodulators, stress, and addiction imapct the function of circuits engaged during specific executive processes. Two brain areas required for healthy executive function, the frontal cortex and the striatum have also been shown to be critically involved in the acute and chronic effects of many drugs of abuse. Thus, abnormal function in circuits that include these areas may contribute to impaired control among addicts. Current work is focused on: 1) correlating functional abnormalities in these brain areas with specific behavioral abnormalities, 2) determining whether such abnormalities may be ameliorated by medication of forms of treatment, and 3) whether such abnormalities precede or follow the onset of addiction.

Recent Publications:

Mitchell JM, Tavares VC, Fields HL, D’Esposito M, Boettiger CA. (2007) Endogenous Opioid Blockade and Impulsive Responding in Alcoholics and Healthy Controls. Neuropsychopharm, 32:439-449.

Mitchell JM, Fields HL, D’Esposito M, Boettiger CA (2005) Impulsive Responding in Alcoholics. Alcoholism Clin Exp Res. 29:2158-2169.

Boettiger CA, D’Esposito M (2005) Frontal Networks for Learning and Executing Arbitrary Stimulus-Response Associations. J Neurosci, 25: 2723-2732.
Recent Meeting Abstracts:

Boettiger CA, Mitchell JM, Tavares VC, DEsposito M, Fields HL (2006). Alcoholism and the neural circuits underlying impulsive choice selection and suppression. Soc Neurosci 32:310.7 (Slide presentation).

Altamirano LJ, Kelley EA, Fields HL, D’Esposito M, Boettiger CA (2006) Opioid regulation of impulsive responding under the influence of alcohol. Soc Neurosci 32:664.11.

Boettiger CA, Mitchell JM, Tavares VC, D’Esposito M, Fields HL (2005) Opioid Regulation Of Impulsive Responding In Alcoholics And Healthy Controls. Soc Neurosci 31: 877.4.

Mitchell JM, Boettiger CA, Alexander HR, D’Esposito M, Fields HL (2004) Alcoholism and Impulsive Choice. Soc Neurosci 30:548.8.

Boettiger CA, Singer AC, Sun FT, D’Esposito M (2004) Identifying Frontal Networks For Replacing Well-Established Response Associations. Soc Neurosci 30:254.10 (Slide presentation).

Boettiger CA, Singer AC, Sun FT, Zuniga E, D'Esposito M (2004) Prefrontal-premotor interactions during reversal learning. Cognitive Neurosci Soc 11:201.

Boettiger CA, D’Esposito M (2003) Cross-session stability of prefrontal-premotor circuitry for learning arbitrary conditional visuomotor associations. Soc Neurosci 29:662.5 (Slide presentation).