Altshuler has developed and pursued clinical and basic research in three primary areas: neuroanatomic and cognitive abnormalities in the major psychoses, course and treatment of bipolar illness and pharmacologic treatment of psychiatric disorders specific to women.
Altshuler's research on neuroanatomic abnormalities in patients with severe mental illnesses has focused on both the gross and histologic/receptor level and has identified the specificity of abnormal brain functioning for a given psychiatric disorder and phase of illness. For example, she was the first to identify that the amygdala is activated when bipolar patients enter a manic state and lower among patients in a depressed state. She concurrently demonstrated that orbitofrontal activation is persistently lower among persons with bipolar disorder, a trait-like reaction. These findings differentiate bipolar disorder from schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.