Top Researchers
Top Neuroscience Researchers at Arizona State University for 2026
Arizona State University’s recent Neuroscience research spans a wide range of questions, from brain metabolism and recovery after stroke to learning, behavior, and mental health. Looking across the last year, the work reflects both clinical priorities and basic science approaches.
Below, you’ll find a closer look at researchers whose recent publications help illustrate how neuroscience at Arizona State University is connecting cognition, treatment, and the cellular mechanisms that shape brain function.
Featured Researchers
Sydney Y. Schaefer
Sydney Y. Schaefer’s recent work at Arizona State University centers on cognitive neuroscience and rehabilitation, with studies on cortical thickness, post-stroke cognitive impairment, and motor expectancy in tDCS.
Activity over the last year: 10 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Cortical Thickness Predictors of Performance-Based Functional Task Variability in the Alzheimer Disease Spectrum (Apr 2025)
- Standardizing the Measurement and Definition of Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment: Implications for Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation (Dec 2025)
- The influence of informational priming on motor expectancy in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (May 2025)
Yuanchao Zhang
Yuanchao Zhang’s recent publications at Arizona State University link cognitive neuroscience with imaging and neurology, including studies of microglia replacement and brain metabolism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Activity over the last year: 8 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Direct microglia replacement reveals pathologic and therapeutic contributions of brain macrophages to a monogenic neurological disease (May 2025)
- Disrupted Glucose Metabolism Covariance Network in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Jul 2025)
- Association of Reduced Brain Metabolism With Motor Function and Survival in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients With Neurofilament Heavy (NEFH) Gene Mutation (Jul 2025)
B. Blair Braden
B. Blair Braden’s recent Arizona State University work connects cognitive neuroscience, endocrinology, and clinical psychology through autism-focused intervention and dopamine transporter studies.
Activity over the last year: 6 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Pilot randomized controlled trial of MINDful TIME, a novel telehealth mindfulness-based intervention for autistic adolescents and their caregivers (Mar 2025)
- A Preliminary Investigation of Dopamine Transporter Binding Abnormalities in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Nov 2025)
- Disrupted Glucose Metabolism Covariance Network in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Jul 2025)
M. Foster Olive
M. Foster Olive’s recent Arizona State University research focuses on cellular and molecular neuroscience, especially methamphetamine-related behavior, cytokines, and COX-2 expression in rats.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Methamphetamine produces behavioral flexibility deficits that are attenuated by COX-2 inhibition in both male and female rats (Apr 2025)
- Characterization of serum and brain cytokine levels following prolonged binge-like methamphetamine self-administration and cued methamphetamine seeking (Jan 2025)
- Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression is elevated in prefrontal cortex neurons, not microglia, following methamphetamine self-administration in male and female rats (Nov 2025)
Jimmy Alfonso Licon
Jimmy Alfonso Licon’s recent Arizona State University output sits at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and philosophy, with papers on ChatGPT, sophistry, and morally mandatory knowledge.
Activity over the last year: 4 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Federico Sanabria
Federico Sanabria’s recent Arizona State University publications span developmental and educational psychology, cellular and molecular neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience, with work on collective learning and reversal learning in rats.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Stylianos Syropoulos
Stylianos Syropoulos’s recent Arizona State University research combines sociology, political science, and cognitive neuroscience in studies of conspiracy beliefs, moral expansiveness, and concern for future generations.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood (Jul 2025)
- Cultivating multigenerational moral expansion: Interventions cultivate moral concern for future generations in boundless and zero‐sum contexts (Apr 2025)
- Cross-national insights into moral expansiveness: Selective valuation of nature versus humans (Sep 2025)
Ayoub Daliri
Ayoub Daliri’s recent Arizona State University papers focus on experimental and cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, including speech control, auditory feedback, and aphasia.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Vocal and articulatory speech control deficits in individuals with post-stroke aphasia (Apr 2025)
- An Integrated Approach to Concurrently Measure Corrective and Adaptive Responses to Auditory Errors (Jun 2025)
- Delayed auditory feedback increases speech production variability in typically fluent adults but has the opposite effect in stuttering adults (Aug 2025)
What Arizona State University's Neuroscience Community Is Working On
The most common subfield across this group is cognitive neuroscience, suggesting an active research community focused on how brain processes relate to behavior, learning, and clinical outcomes. Around that core, researchers are also working in clinical psychology, cellular and molecular neuroscience, rehabilitation, and psychiatry and mental health. Together, these areas point to a department-wide emphasis on connecting mechanistic brain research with real-world concerns such as stroke recovery, autism, addiction, speech disorders, and neurodegenerative disease.- Cognitive Neuroscience - seen across 8 of the featured researchers
- Clinical Psychology - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Rehabilitation - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
- Psychiatry and Mental health - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
These recent publications show a community moving across scales, from molecules and metabolism to cognition, rehabilitation, and social behavior. If you’re following neuroscience research at Arizona State University, explore the profiles below to see how these themes connect across labs and disciplines. For researchers managing manuscripts and submissions, Resub can also help streamline the next step.
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