Dr. Zhiyan Wang is part of the Multisensory Research Group. Her research interests include the neural mechanisms of perceptual learning using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially how reward, arousal and sleep modulate the plasticity of the visual cortex.
Dr. Zhiyan Wang
- E-mail address: zhiyan.wang(at)ur.de (opens your email program)
- Tel: +49-941-943-5593 (starts a telephone call, if your device allows this)
- Location: SE U03
Universität Regensburg
Sedanstr. 1
93055 Regensburg - Important information: Sprechzeiten: nach Vereinbarung
Academic career
Dr. Zhiyan Wang was until recently an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, hosted by Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee. She completed her PhD in Psychology at Brown University (2021) in the Cognitive and Perceptual Learning Lab (advisors: Dr. Takeo Watanabe, Dr. Yuka Sasaki, Dr. Michael J. Frank), where she also earned a Doctoral Certificate in Data Science.
Education:
- B.S. Psychology · Peking University, China · 2012–2016
- M.A. Psychology · Brown University · 2016–2018
- Ph.D. Psychology · Brown University · 2016–2021 · "A systematic investigation of feature-based visual learning: mechanisms and application"
- Doctoral Certificate in Data Science · Brown University · 2019–2021
Main research areas
- Visual perceptual learning and its neural mechanisms
- Effects of reward and arousal on learning and plasticity in visual cortex
- Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and visual learning
- Decoded fMRI neurofeedback (DecNef) for inducing unconscious perceptual learning
- Methods: fMRI (including real-time decoded neurofeedback), simultaneous fMRI-EEG, MRS
Publications (selection)
- Tamaki M, Wang Z et al. (2020). Complementary contributions of non-REM and REM sleep to visual learning. Nature Neuroscience, 23(9):1150–1156.
- Wang Z et al. (2021). Visual perceptual learning of a primitive feature in human V1/V2 as a result of unconscious processing, revealed by decoded fMRI neurofeedback (DecNef). Journal of Vision, 21(8):24.
- Wang Z et al. (2024). Learning of the same task subserved by substantially different mechanisms between patients with body dysmorphic disorder and healthy individuals. Cerebral Cortex, 34(5):bhae215.
- Wang Z, Becker M, Kondla G., Gimpel H, Beer AL, & Greenlee MW (2024). Dynamic modulation of the processing of unpredicted technical errors by the posterior cingulate and the default mode network. Scientific Reports, 14: 13467. .doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64409-6
Awards
- Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers (2022–2025)
- VSS Elsevier/Vision Research Travel Award (2021)