Tadayon-Nejad Lab: Psychiatric Systems Neuroscience of Value and Decision-Making

The Tadayon-Nejad Lab explores how the brain makes decisions, assigns value to outcomes, and balances emotion and cognition—especially in psychiatric illness. Using neuroimaging and computational modeling, the lab studies decision-making processes in disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. It focuses on brain circuits involving the prefrontal cortex and striatum, which are central to motivation and reward. Research aims to uncover neural markers of dysfunction and improve treatment targeting. The lab is part of UCLA’s broader effort in computational psychiatry.