Dr Lei Zhang BSc, MSc, PhD

Dr Lei Zhang

School of Psychology
Associate Professor
Director of Postgraduate Research

Contact details

Email
l.zhang.13@bham.ac.uk
Twitter

Dr. Lei Zhang is a cognitive computational neuroscientist. He directs the Adaptive Learning Psychology and Neuroscience Lab, ALP(e)N Lab, which addresses the fundamental question of the “adaptive brain” by studying the cognitive, computational, and neurobiological basis of (social) learning and decision-making in health and disease (i.e. Computational Psychiatry).

Qualifications

  • PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience (summa cum laude), University of Hamburg & University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany; Awarded Chinese Government Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Abroad
  • MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of the Basque Country & Basque Center on Cognition, Brain & Language, Spain
  • BSc in Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China

Biography

Dr Lei Zhang obtained his BSc in Psychology from Beijing Normal University, China, and his MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Spain. He received his PhD (summa cum laude), along with a one-year transition postdoc, with Dr Jan Gläscher at the Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Between 2016 and 2017, he was a Roche intern for Scientific Exchange (RiSE) at one of the research-based pharmaceutical companies, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, based in Basel, Switzerland. Between 2019 and 2022, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof Claus Lamm at the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit (SCAN-Unit), University of Vienna, Austria. Dr Zhang joined the Centre for Human Brain Health, Institute of Mental Health, and School of Psychology at University 麻豆精选 as an Associate Professor in winter 2022.

Teaching

Dr Lei Zhang performs research-informed teaching. He teaches an MSc-level module on Proposing Research in Psychology.

Postgraduate supervision

PhD students: Students interested in working with Dr Zhang should email him to discuss potential funding opportunities. Current funding schemes include , BBSRC-MIBTP, and CSC.

Postdoc researchers: Excellent and motivated postdoc researchers are welcome to contact Dr Zhang to discuss potential projects and funding opportunities (both national and international).

Research

Learning and decision-making, flexible & adaptive (learning) behavior, decision neuroscience/neuroeconomics, social learning, reinforcement learning, cognitive modeling, Bayesian methods, neuroimaging, fMRI, TMS, pain, aversive learning, computational psychiatry

Other activities

Awards

  • Rising Star Award, Association for Psychological Science (APS), 2022
  • Commendation Award for Open Science, European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN), 2022
  • Open & Reproducible Science Award, Society for Social Neuroscience (S4SN), 2021
  • Trainee Professional Development Award, Society for Neuroscience (SfN), 2020
  • Teaching Award for Early Career Researchers, University of Vienna, 2020
  • Fellow, Kavli Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience (“Brain Camp”), Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2019

Responsibilities

  • eLife Community Ambassador (2022-2024)
  • OHBM Student and Postdoc Special Interest Group (2021-2023)
  • S4SN Open Science Committee, Society for Social Neuroscience (2021–2022)
  • ALBA Network Member for diversity and equality in neurosciences (2021-present)
  • COS Ambassador, Center for Open Science (2020–present)
  • Steering committee member, Chinese Open Science Network (2018–present)

Publications

Highlight publications

Zhang, L & Gl盲scher, J 2020, '', Science Advances.

Crawley, D, Zhang, L, Jones, EJH, Ahmad, J, Oakley, B, San Jos茅 C谩ceres, A, Charman, T, Buitelaar, JK, Murphy, DGM, Chatham, C, den Ouden, H & Loth, E 2020, '', PLoS Biology, vol. 18, no. 10.

Zhang, L, Lengersdorff, L, Mikus, N, Gl盲scher, J & Lamm, C 2020, '', Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 695-707.

Zhao, Y, Zhang, L, R眉tgen, M, Sladky, R & Lamm, C 2021, '', eLife, vol. 10, e69994.

Ahn, WY, Haines, N & Zhang, L 2017, '', Computational Psychiatry, vol. 1, pp. 24-57.

Recent publications

Article

Xu, T, Zhang, L, Zhou, F, Fu, K, Gan, X, Chen, Z, Zhang, R, Lan, C, Wang, L, Kendrick, KM, Yao, D & Becker, B 2025, '', Communications Biology, vol. 8, no. 1, 106.

Ong, JH, Zhang, L & Liu, F 2025, '', Molecular Autism, vol. 16, no. 1, 15.

Pan, W, Geng, H, Zhang, L, Fengler, A, Frank, MJ, Zhang, R-Y & Chuan-Peng, H 2025, '', Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, vol. 8, no. 1, 25152459241298700.

Su, Z, Garvert, MM, Zhang, L, Vogel, TA, Cutler, J, Husain, M, Manohar, SG & Lockwood, PL 2025, '', PLoS Biology, vol. 23, no. 4, e3003079.

Liu, H, Quandt, J, Zhang, L, Kang, X, Blechert, J, van Lent, T, Holland, RW & Veling, H 2025, '', Appetite, vol. 208, 107950.

Sohail, A & Zhang, L 2025, '', Current Psychology.

Falck, J, Zhang, L, Raffington, L, Mohn, JJ, Triesch, J, Heim, C & Shing, YL 2024, '', eLife, vol. 12, RP89483.

Su, Z, Garvert, MM, Zhang, L, Manohar, SG, Vogel, TA, Thomas, L, Balsters, JH, Husain, M, Apps, MAJ & Lockwood, PL 2024, '', Communications Psychology, vol. 2, no. 1, 87.

Peng, M, Duan, Q, Yang, X, Tang, R, Zhang, L, Zhang, H & Li, X 2024, '', Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 15, 1292808.

Kreis, I, Zhang, L, Mittner, M, Syla, L, Lamm, C & Pfuhl, G 2023, '', Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 905-919.

Comment/debate

Sohail, A & Zhang, L 2024, '', Psychoradiology.

Preprint

Luo, X, Zhang, L & Pan, Y 2024 '' PsyArXiv.

Sohail, A & Zhang, L 2024 '' PsyArXiv.

Steininger, MO, White, MP, Lengersdorff , L, Zhang, L, Smalley, AJ, Kuehn, S & Lamm, C 2024 '' bioRxiv.

Su, Z, Garvert, MM, Zhang, L, Manohar, S, Vogel, TA, Thomas, L, Balsters, JH, Husain, M, Apps, MAJ & Lockwood, PL 2024 '' PsyArXiv.