Yuxi Chen

My research explores how goal planning goes wrong in schizophrenia, using behavior and in vivo extracellular electrophysiology in mouse models. While prefrontal and hippocampal abnormalities in schizophrenia are well-documented, the precise computational impairments remain unclear. My work asks two main questions: (1) Do planning deficits arise from disrupted world models, goal models, and/or the interaction between the two? (2) Can these neural and behavioral phenotypes be rescued through pharmacological intervention during critical developmental windows?

I'm part of a Wellcome Trust collaborative project studying the same planning tasks across mice, humans, and artificial neural networks. By combining insights across these systems, we aim to identify the computational basis of cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia and reveal novel targets for treatment.

Before joining Oxford, I completed my BS and PhD in Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University.