Research groups
Colleges
Nima Khalighinejad
MD MSc PhD
Wellcome Career Development Fellow
Cognitive neuroscientist interested in how neuromodulatory systems shape cognition and behaviour
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.
Key publications
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Dorsal raphe nucleus controls motivation-state transitions in monkeys.
Journal article
Priestley L. et al, (2025), Sci Adv, 11
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Complementary roles of serotonergic and cholinergic systems in decisions about when to act.
Journal article
Khalighinejad N. et al, (2022), Curr Biol
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A habenula-insular circuit encodes the willingness to act.
Journal article
Khalighinejad N. et al, (2021), Nat Commun, 12
Recent publications
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Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering
Preprint
D'Ambrogio S. et al, (2025)
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Dorsal raphe nucleus controls motivation-state transitions in monkeys.
Journal article
Priestley L. et al, (2025), Sci Adv, 11
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Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering
Preprint
D'Ambrogio S. et al, (2025)
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Basis functions for complex social decisions in dorsomedial frontal cortex
Journal article
Wittmann MK. et al, (2025), Nature
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A distributed subcortical circuit linked to instrumental information-seeking about threat.
Journal article
Trier HA. et al, (2025), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 122
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General mechanisms of task engagement in the primate frontal cortex.
Journal article
Grohn J. et al, (2024), Nat Commun, 15
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A frontopolar-temporal circuit determines the impact of social information in macaque decision making.
Journal article
Mahmoodi A. et al, (2024), Neuron, 112, 84 - 92.e6
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Dynamic off-resonance correction improves functional image analysis in fMRI of awake behaving non-human primates.
Journal article
Shahdloo M. et al, (2024), Front Neuroimaging, 3
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Dynamic off-resonance correction improves functional image analysis in fMRI of awake behaving non-human primates
Preprint
Shahdloo M. et al, (2023)
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An ancient subcortical circuit decides when to orient to threat in humans
Preprint
Trier H. et al, (2023)