Nima Khalighinejad

I am a Wellcome Career Development Fellow at the Department of Experimental Psychology and the Oxford Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (OxCIN), and a Research Fellow at The Queen’s College, Oxford. I am the Principal Investigator of the Neuromodulatory Systems and Cognition Lab (NSC Lab).

In my lab, we investigate how the brain’s neuromodulatory systems influence cognition and behavior. By combining approaches ranging from computational modeling and neuroimaging to pharmacology and non-invasive brain stimulation, we aim to uncover the mechanisms through which neuromodulatory systems and their interactions drive learning, decision-making, and motivation in both humans and animal models. More details about our work is available on the NSC Lab website.

I studied medicine at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, before moving to London to complete an MSc in Neuroscience at UCL, followed by a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience under the supervision of Prof. Patrick Haggard. After receiving my PhD in 2017, I joined Prof. Matthew Rushworth’s lab at Oxford as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2021, I was awarded a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship to begin my independent research. In 2025, I established my own research group after being awarded a Wellcome Career Development Award.

Teaching:

• Module leader, Behavioural Neuroscience Core Practical.