Ahmet Ceceli, PhD

Dr. Ceceli is a postdoctoral fellow at the Neuropsychoimaging of Addiction and Related Conditions (NARC) Lab (PI: Dr. Rita Goldstein). He received his master’s degree in New York University (PI: Dr. Elizabeth Phelps), where he studied the psychophysiological bases of emotional learning. He completed his PhD in psychology, specializing in cognitive neuroscience, at Rutgers University-Newark (PI: Dr. Elizabeth Tricomi), investigating the neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying habits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Broadly, Dr.Ceceli is interested in the neural signature of cognitive control in drug addiction. His work at the NARC lab focuses on the structural and functional brain substrates of cognitive and habitual control in cocaine and heroin addiction. The goals of Dr. Ceceli’s research include 1) better understanding how salient drug cues affect self-control in individuals with substance use disorders, 2) revealing common and distinct cognitive control markers across substance classes to identify precise biomarkers, and 3) improving addiction treatment outcomes via ecologically valid estimates of drug-biased processing. Dr. Ceceli is supported by a National Institute on Drug Abuse T32 Training Grant in Substance Use Disorders.
Select publications:
Ceceli A. O., King S., McClain N., Alia-Klein, N., & Goldstein R. Z. (in press). The neural signature of impaired inhibitory control in individuals with heroin use disorder. Journal of Neuroscience.
Ceceli A. O., Huang Y., Kronberg G., Malaker P., Miller P., King S., Gaudreault P. O., McClain N., Gabay L., Vasa D., Ekin D., Newcorn, J.H., Alia-Klein, N., & Goldstein R. Z. (in press). Common and distinct fronto-striatal volumetric changes in cocaine and heroin use disorder. Brain.
Ceceli A. O.*, Parvaz M.A.*, King S., Schafer M., Malaker P., Sharma, A., Alia-Klein N., & Goldstein, R.Z. (2022). Altered prefrontal signaling during inhibitory control in a salient drug context in cocaine use disorder. Cerebral Cortex. (*equal contribution)
Ceceli A. O., Bradberry C. W., & Goldstein R. Z. (2021)*. The neurobiology of drug addiction: Cross-species insights into the dysfunction and recovery of the prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychopharmacology, 1-16.