Principal Investigator

Shih-Wei Wu

Professor, 2021-present, Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Associate Professor, 2015-2021, Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University

Assistant Professor, 2010-2015, Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University

Postdoctoral fellow, 2008-2010, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology

Ph.D., 2008, Experimental psychology, New York University

Complete CV

I obtained my PhD in Experimental Psychology (2003-2008) from New York University. As a graduate student, I worked with Larry Maloney on movement planning and decision making. While at NYU, I was also very fortunate to meet and collaborate with Julia Trommershäuser, Mike Landy, Mauricio Delgado and Mark Dean. Together, our work has made contributions to (1) understanding how humans plan rapid arm movements in uncertain and risky environm ents, (2) bridging the gap between motor decisions and economic decision making by comparing and revealing differences in how people use information about probability, and (3) identifying the neural mechanisms for decisions under different task modalities.

At Caltech, my postdoctoral work (2008-2010) with Antonio Rangel, Shin Shimojo, and John O'Doherty focused on (1) the dynamics of neural computations for information updating and (2) mechanisms for reference-dependent valuation in decision under risk.

After postdoctoral training, I came back to my home country – Taiwan. I was an Assistant Professor (2010-2015) and Associate Professor (2015-2021) of Neuroscience at National Yang-Ming University (NYMU). Currently, I am a Professor of Neuroscience at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU).

In 2011, several of us here in Taiwan ( Chen-Ying Huang , Joseph Tao-yi Wang , Chun-I Yeh , Wen-Jui Kuo ) formed a research group that aims to promote research on neuroeconomics. Information about the talks and symposium we organized can be seen here .

Postdoctoral Fellows

Wan-Yu Shih

I obtained my Ph.D. in Neuroscience from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, during which I worked with Dr. Shih-Wei Wu and our collaborators using Stereo-electroencephalogrphy (SEEG) to investigate temporal context effect in value representation. I am interested in value coding and learning in decision-making, especially how context affects choice behavior. Outside of lab, I am a fan of musicals and living theatre.

(read my CV)

PhD Students

Mu-Chen Wang

I am a fifth-year PhD student in the lab. I received my Masters degree from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University. My research interest is how people collect information dynamically. My research consists two parts. (1) How they balance between the cost and benefit of time and (2) how they detect changes in the environment based on the available information. As a psychology student, I also like to exert my imagination on my dog’s thoughts.

(read my work)

Masters Students

Wen-Yi Yang

I am a second-year Master's student in the lab. As a student graduated from psychology in NCCU, I’ve been curious about how the information, especially the emotion from the environment would affect people’s behavior and how the neural mechanism interacts with the outside information. I desire to learn more fundamental and critical knowledge in neuroeconomics. In my leisure time, I like playing tennis, working out, cooking, running my vegetarian recipe IG account and teaching students. I've enjoyed sharing and learning different kinds of knowledge

Ai-Lin Chen

I am a second-year Master's student in the Lab. I’m a psychology major in college. I'm curious about how decision-making models predict human behavior. I hope to learn more neuron image tools in order to better understand the real world. In my spare time, I enjoy working out, watching anime, reading novels, playing Pokemon Go, and Stardew Valley.

Yu-Ching Huang

I'm Yu-Ching Huang, a second-year Master's student. Although I studied pharmacy as an undergraduate, I have always been interested in the neurological background of human behavior. Now, I am particularly intrigued by the neural mechanisms of decision-making and the knowledge of fMRI. I'm looking forward to discovering the unknown in this field.

Maggie Lin

Hi! I’m Maggie. I majored in Mathematics as my undergraduate and then took a semester off to earn my teaching license—so you could say I’m a “half-fresh” student! I’m excited to delve deeper into the field of decision-making and apply what I learn to real-world scenarios. In my free time, I enjoy reading non-fiction, hiking, swimming, and exploring galleries. (2024.0904)

Ming-Ming Tsai

I’m a first-year Master’s student in the lab. With my background in psychology and finance, I am interested in neurofinance, an intriguing field of study that seeks to understand financial decision-making from the perspectives of psychology and neuroscience. In my leisure time, I enjoy traveling, hiking, and learning new things, like learning German right now. Guten Tag! Wie geht’s?

Yin Chen

Hi! I am a first-year student in the lab, and my major in undergraduate studies was clinical psychology. The reason I chose cognitive neuroscience is that I’m interested in how humans perceive information from the world and process it in our brains. I’m particularly interested in how people make decisions. In my free time, I like to watch movies, work out, go swimming, and travel.

Research assistant

Tzu-Yu Chen

I am a research assistant in Wu lab.I am interested in the neural mechanisms underlying social decision making and development in humans.
Specifically, I study how humans understand others’ intentions and emotions (the ‘theory of mind’) and how this
relates to their moral judgment using noninvasive brain imaging and stimulation techniques (fMRI, EEG, fNIRS, Eye tracker and TMS).

Alumni

Chih-Chung Ting (MSc)

I am Chih-Chung and I am interested in the issues regarding moral decision, social interaction, and inference making. To know how people perform various types of decisions, and how the brain processes information, I use computational models and fMRI to study the relation between brain and behavior. Right now I am working with Dr. Philip Tseng (Taipei Medical University) to investigate the neural mechanisms (and detection) of lying and moral judgment.I received my Masters degree from the Institute of Neuroscience at National Yang Ming University under the supervision of Dr. Shih-Wei Wu. With Dr. Wu I have published one paper in the Journal of Neuroscience on the topic of value-based decision making.

Poa-Kai Feng

In general, I am interested in how humans gather and integrate information when making decisions. For my Masters thesis, I study speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) in a visuo-motor task. We investigate how people take into account both the benefit and cost of time when making decisions.

Beside the science, I am also the trumpet performer and associated football player. The science, music and sport form the triangle of my life.

(read my work)

Zheng-Jie Luo

A Finance major in college, I recognized and was fascinated by a lot of irrational behaviors in trading. This is why I became interested in neuroscience: I want to understand more about what makes people irrational by investigating the brain. Currently, my research focuses on how quality and quantity of information affect decision making in the brain. In my spare time I am a photographer. I also enjoy watching movies and playing badminton.

(read my work)

Yun-Yen Yang

My research interests are how people integrate different sources of information, how the integration and choice change under different environments, and how the brain represents them. Currently, my study focuses on how uncertainty affects the integration of prior knowledge and likelihood information and how the brain represents these distinct sources of information. Outside the lab, I enjoy reading novels and watching movies.

(read my work)

Shu-Ching Lee

I am interested in how people adapt to the ever-changing environment, and the neural mechanisms involved in helping us make decisions. Outside the lab, I love to read detective fiction for pleasure and an opportunity to release intense pressures of academic life. To avoid being an escapist, I am also an avid enthusiast for exercise and sports with an equal love for foods.

(read my work)

Chia-Jen Lee

I have been interested in Psychology and curious about what made people different, and turned to focus on how did social structure and growth environment affect people and their behavior. Now, I tend to know how could we avoid the cognitive bias and make decisions ideally. Besides scientific news, I am also concerned about social issues. And soccer is an inseparable part of my life.

Siao-Jhen Wu

I am a research assistant in the lab. I have been interested in Cognitive psychology and curious about how the brain works when people received the information. And I also curious about the neural mechanisms underlying decision making. Outside the lab, I enjoy playing table tennis and listening to music.

Chen-Yi Hsu

With a business major in college, I am curious about people’s preference - how people judge different alternatives and make a choice. Currently, I am working on the study of people’s preference under different response mode. Outside the lab, I enjoy reading and watching animation.

Hui-Ching Hsu

I'm a second-year Master student in the lab. I graduated from the Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University. I'm interested in the factors/brain networks that may lead people to make different decisions. And I hope that the works can eventually give us an insight to know more about ourselves and become a better person. Outside the lab, I'm a movie lover.

Chih-Yin Lu

I am a second-year Master's student in the lab. In the past, I majored in diplomacy and international communication. I've always been curious about how our brains function and respond in different social contexts and networks. Based on my training in the humanities and social science field, I desire to further equip myself with fundamental and critical knowledge and analysis methods in the field of neuroscience. In my leisure time, working out, eating(sometimes cooking), and reading literally take up most of my time.

Yi-Ju Liu

I feel curious about how the brains make people different so as to affect their behavior, especially under the pressure. To dig deeper into these issues, I am working with Dr. Wu to do research associated with how people make decisions and what the neural mechanisms get involved in. Outside the lab, I am a basketball player.

Zi-You Lin

I am a research assistant in the lab. As a major of psychology in college, how human thinking in brain is always interesting to me, especially the neural mechanisms. It’s meaningful to outline the mind of human, and I want to participated in the fascinating project. In my spare time, I like to reading novels, watching anime and playing games.

Master Students

Wei-Shung Lin

Ya-Hsuan Liu

Tze-Yun Wang

Research Assistants

Jen-Hau Yang

Chang-Hao Kao

Ming-Jen Yeh

Bianca Hsiao