Montague Lab
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Read Montague, Ph.D. , homeThe Virginia Tech Carilion Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor and Director of the Center for Human Neuroscience Research
Led by principal investigator Read Montague, Ph.D., the Montague Lab's work focuses on computational neuroscience – the connection between physical mechanisms present in real neural tissue and the computational functions that these mechanisms embody. His early theoretical work focused on the hypothesis that dopaminergic systems encode a particular kind of computational process, a reward prediction error signal, similar to those used in areas of artificial intelligence like optimal control. The lab is actively engaged in translating computational neuroscience into the domain of mental health through work in Computational Psychiatry, using theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches to the problems of mental health and its derangement by disease and injury.
The Montague Lab, working in conjunction with scientists at Wake Forest University Medical Center, adapted equipment to be inserted into willing patients’ brains during the surgery and developed a high-speed scanning procedure to identify serotonin fluctuations while the waking patients played a risk and reward game. The researchers were the first in the world to take such measurements directly in humans– and documented the first clear evidence that serotonin helps people contend emotionally when events don’t go as they expect.
Meditation and Cognition
Help understand how mindfulness impacts the brain.
Cases & Guards — Neuroeconomic Decision Making
A brain imaging study that investigates the brain’s response to decision-making and reward.
Constraint in Typical Individuals
A brain imaging study that investigates the brain response to constraint in typical individuals.
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Leonardo S. Barbosa, Ph.D. , bioResearch Assistant Professor
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Seth R. Batten, Ph.D. , bioSenior Research Associate
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Suni Chand , bioResearch Technician
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Daniel Colangelo , bioResearch Technician
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Cassie Efkeman , bioAssociate Director of Research Programs
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Gladys Garcia Zamora , bioGraduate Student, School of Neuroscience
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Alec Hartle, Ph.D. , bioSenior Research Associate
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Venkatesh Jatla , bioSenior Research Associate
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Chloe Lattuca , bioResearch Assistant
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Terry Lohrenz, Ph.D. , bioResearch Associate Professor
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Olivia Moreland , bioResearch Assistant
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Jamie Nelson , bioGraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
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Duy Phan , bioCore Management Team Senior Project Associate, Montague Lab
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Nishika Raheja , bioGraduate Student, School of Neuroscience
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Ronna Reed , bioResearch Technician
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Paul Sands, Ph.D. , bioResearch Assistant Professor
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Jae Shin , bioSenior Research Associate
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Celine Taylor , bioResearch Project Coordinator
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Sravani Teeparthi , bioResearch Associate
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Jason White , bioSenior Research Associate
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Janeline Wong , bioMedical Student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine '26
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Sarah Zhang , bioGraduate Student, School of Neuroscience
Collaborators
- Dan Bang, Ph.D., Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology
- Irene Cogliati Dezza, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, University College London
- Graham Findlay, Graduate Student, Center for Sleep and Consciousness, University of Wisconsin
- Sarah Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University
- Charles Zhao, Fineberg Lab, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University
- Jean-Simon Fortin, University of Montreal
- Maximilian Grobbelaar, Research Specialist, Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin chool of Medicine and Public Health
- Beniamino Hadj-Amar, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Statistics, Rice University
- Matthew Heflin, Lab Manager, Gu Lab, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Ismail Guennouni, Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London
- Carrie McAdams, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Mohita Patel, M.D., McAdams Lab, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Sara Cao, McAdams Lab, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Rosalyn Moran, Ph.D., Reader of Theoretical Neurobiology, Kings College London
- Il Ho Park, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, Catholic Kwandong University International St. Mary's Hospital
- Ofer Perl, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York
- Brinda Sevak, M.Sc., Research Specialist, Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
- Ai Yun Taha, Doctoral Candidate, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London
- Marina Vannucci, Ph.D., Noah Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University
- Ariane Wiegand, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Molecular Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Graduate Training Center of Neuroscience, Germany
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Date: Sep 02, 2025 - -
Article ItemNeuroscientist aims to decipher mechanisms that mediate dopamine’s role in brain and behavior , article
Ryunosuke Amo will study dopamine system dysfunction and how opioids and other substances contribute to it.
Date: Aug 18, 2025 - -
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Date: Apr 08, 2025 - -
Article ItemWords activate hidden brain processes shaping emotions, decisions, and behavior , article
An international team, led by Virginia Tech scientists, reveals the relationship of activity of neurotransmitters to how humans process the emotional content of language.
Date: Jan 09, 2025 - -
Article ItemFellowship will help doctoral student explore the neuroscience behind yoga, meditation , article
Nishika Raheja wants to better understand the neurochemistry behind mindfulness practices. She will be supported in that work with a Ray A. Gaskins fellowship for students conducting research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
Date: Dec 12, 2024 - -
Redirect ItemDecoding mental health , redirect
How hidden neural processes shape our choices, emotions, and psychological well-being.
Date: Oct 21, 2024 - -
Article Item'Curious Conversations' podcast: Read Montague talks about brain chemistry and neuroeconomics , article
Montague talks about the role of dopamine and serotonin in learning, motivation, memory, mood, and decision-making.
Date: Sep 23, 2024 -
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