My name is Christopher Madan and I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. If you want to email me, I can be contacted at: christopher.madan@nottingham.ac.uk. At the University of Nottingham, I am affiliated with several research groups, including: Cognition and Language, Computational Neuroscience, Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre (SPMIC), Precision Imaging, AI, and Accident Research Unit.
Research Interests
I study memory using a combination of cognitive psychology, neuroimaging, and computational modeling methods. I am particularly interested in investigating factors that make some experiences more memorable than others—including emotion, motivation, and pre-existing semantic knowledge—and how these influences can manifest in future decisions. I also specialize in characterizing inter-individual differences in brain morphology, particularly with respect to healthy aging and mental health conditions.
Memory for past experiences can be used to inform future behavior. However, not all experiences are equally informative for future behavior–in part because some experiences are more memorable than others. Although many factors can influence memorability, it is well known that both emotion and reward influence memory. Their effects are often studied independently, but in my own work, I seek to advance our understanding of these distinct effects on memory, but also to investigate commonalities in their effects, with the goal of understanding domain-general modulation of memory for motivationally salient information. Although biases can provide insight into the functional role of memory, how these biases manifest in decision-making further demonstrate their importance.
I conduct research across a variety of topics, including emotional memory, risky decision-making, and embodied cognition. I study these topics using behavioral paradigms, as well as brain imaging (fMRI and EEG), and brain stimulation. Additionally, some studies involve computational modeling--either in the form of advanced statistical methods and machine learning, or through the development of specific models designed to distinguish between particular theoretical hypotheses. For more details on projects explicitly designed for methods development, see here.
Notable Roles & Recognitions
- 2025 Early Career Award from the British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience
- 2021 Early Career Award from the Psychonomic Society
- 2017 Rising Star award from the Association for Psychological Science
- Elected Member to the Memory Disorders Research Society
- Keynote speaker for the 2019 Aspects of Neuroscience conference
- Fellow of the Psychonomic Society (FPsyS)
- Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA)
- Statistics, Transparency, and Rigor (STAR) Editor for the Psychological Science [2022-pres]
- Editor for Behavioral Research Methods [2020-pres]
- Editor for the Journal of Open Source Software [2016-2024]
- Member of the Outreach and Training Committee of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society [2017-pres]
- Member of the Editorial Board of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review [2020-pres]
- Panelist for the Trainee Professional Development Panel at the 2019 Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting
