Top Researchers
Top Neuroscience Researchers at Northeastern University for 2026
Northeastern University researchers are contributing a wide-ranging body of work in neuroscience, with recent studies spanning vision, cognition, brain imaging, behavior, and clinical applications. Looking across the last year, the picture that emerges is one of active, connected inquiry rather than a single topic in isolation.
Below, you’ll find a curated look at featured researchers whose recent publications reflect that breadth. Their work highlights how neuroscience at Northeastern is engaging with human perception, brain networks, motor control, mental health, and methods that help turn complex data into clearer insight.
Featured Researchers
Peter J. Bex
Peter J. Bex at Northeastern University has recently focused on visual neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and ophthalmology, with studies on amblyopia, visual search, and peripheral blur perception.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Differential Impacts of Strabismic and Anisometropic Amblyopia on the Mesoscale Functional Organization of the Human Visual Cortex (Jan 2025)
- Comparing Object Localization Deficits in Desktop and Immersive Virtual Reality Search Tasks in Individuals with Cerebral Visual Impairment (Jul 2025)
- Peripheral Blur Perception in Young Children at Low Risk or High Risk of Myopia: Longitudinal Data (May 2025)
Psyche Loui
Psyche Loui at Northeastern University is working across cognitive neuroscience, social psychology, and music, with recent publications on musical metacognition, creativity, and the speech-to-song illusion.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Susan Whitfield‐Gabrieli
Susan Whitfield‐Gabrieli at Northeastern University has centered recent work on cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging, including default mode network connectivity, interoceptive systems, and predictive modeling of mindfulness.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Craig F. Ferris
Craig F. Ferris at Northeastern University is publishing across behavioral neuroscience and imaging, with recent studies on SSRI exposure, psilocybin, and automated preclinical fMRI processing.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Perinatal SSRI exposure impacts innate fear circuit activation and behavior in mice and humans (May 2025)
- Dose-dependent changes in global brain activity and functional connectivity following exposure to psilocybin: a BOLD MRI study in awake rats (May 2025)
- SST-DUNet: Smart Swin Transformer and Dense UNet for automated preclinical fMRI skull stripping (Aug 2025)
Dagmar Sternad
Dagmar Sternad at Northeastern University is focused on cognitive neuroscience, biomedical engineering, and social psychology, with recent work on complex motor control, time-warping methods, and stability in underactuated systems.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Predictive strategies for the control of complex motor skills: recent insights into individual and joint actions (Apr 2025)
- Time-warping analysis for biological signals: methodology and application (Apr 2025)
- Human Control of Underactuated Objects: Adaptation to Uncertain Nonlinear Dynamics Ensures Stability (Feb 2025)
Charles H. Hillman
Charles H. Hillman at Northeastern University has been working across developmental and educational psychology, public health, and cognitive neuroscience, with recent studies linking physical activity, memory, and sleep to cognitive performance.
Activity over the last year: 7 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- A Dual-Process Framework for Understanding How Physical Activity Enhances Academic Performance Through Domain-General and Domain-Specific Executive Functions (Jul 2025)
- Associations Between Episodic Memory and Hippocampal Volume in Late Adulthood (Mar 2025)
- Self-report and actigraphy measures of sleep and domain-specific cognitive performance in older adults (Apr 2025)
Jiahe Zhang
Jiahe Zhang at Northeastern University is contributing to cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology, with recent publications on default mode network connectivity, allostatic–interoceptive mapping, and brain function.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Default Mode Network Functional Connectivity As a Transdiagnostic Biomarker of Cognitive Function (Jan 2025)
- Cortical and subcortical mapping of the human allostatic–interoceptive system using 7 Tesla fMRI (Oct 2025)
- It’s not the thought that counts: Allostasis at the core of brain function (Oct 2025)
Clemens Bauer
Clemens Bauer at Northeastern University is combining cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, and experimental psychology in recent work on default mode network connectivity, mindfulness, and neurofeedback in schizophrenia.
Activity over the last year: 5 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Default Mode Network Functional Connectivity As a Transdiagnostic Biomarker of Cognitive Function (Jan 2025)
- From Confound to Clinical Tool: Mindfulness and the Observer Effect in Research and Therapy (Jan 2025)
- Brain Structural and Functional Neuroimaging Features are Associated With Improved Auditory Hallucinations in Patients With Schizophrenia After Real‐Time fMRI Neurofeedback (Jan 2025)
What Northeastern University's Neuroscience Community Is Working On
The most common subfield across these researchers is cognitive neuroscience, showing a strong shared interest in how brain networks support perception, memory, attention, and cognitive function. Social psychology and clinical psychology also appear repeatedly, suggesting active work at the intersection of brain, behavior, and mental health. Imaging-related research is another clear thread, especially studies using fMRI and other neuroimaging approaches to better understand function, connectivity, and treatment-related change.- Cognitive Neuroscience - seen across 7 of the featured researchers
- Social Psychology - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Clinical Psychology - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Epidemiology - seen across 1 of the featured researchers
Taken together, these recent publications show a neuroscience community working across levels of analysis, from brain function and imaging to behavior and real-world performance. Explore the featured researchers below to see how their interests overlap and diverge, and consider using Resub to help streamline citation discovery, manuscript formatting, and submission preparation for your own projects.
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