- Department：
- Position：Postdoctoral Researcher
- Research Field：Systems neuroscience, Primate social cognition, Interoceptive processes, Primate behavior, Neurobehavioral systems, Eye-tracking, EEG/fNIRS, Emotional context, Decision-making
- Phone：
- E-mail：shahab.zarei@icpbr.ac.cn
Shahab's research combines systems neuroscience with primate cognition studies and custom experimental tools. He earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience, where he played a pivotal role in establishing a primate research center. During his doctoral work, Shahab designed and built specialized cognitive testing systems for non-human primates (NHPs), focusing on emotional responses and cognitive tasks in more naturalistic conditions.
Following his Ph.D., Shahab joined the Centre for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai as a postdoctoral researcher. Here, he developed a social cognition paradigm for NHPs that enables face-to-face interactions with minimal restraints. This integrated approach combines cognitive tasks, eye-tracking, and functional neuroimaging (fNIRS) to examine how social contexts (including empathy, competition, envy, cooperation, and audience effects) influence decision processes.
Shahab is dedicated to developing experimental methods that capture complex natural behaviors while providing precise neural and physiological measurements. His approach investigates not only how external emotional/social contexts shape cognition, but also how internal physiological states and interoceptive processes influence decision-making and behavioral responses. His work seeks to understand this dynamic interplay between environmental factors and embodied cognition through carefully designed experimental systems.
Systems neuroscience, Primate social cognition, Interoceptive processes, Primate behavior, Neurobehavioral systems, Eye-tracking, EEG/fNIRS, Emotional context, Decision-making
1. Zarei SA, Sheibani V, Tomaz C, Mansouri FA. The effects of oxytocin on primates’ working memory depend on the emotional valence of contextual factors. Behavioural Brain Research. 2019 Apr 19;362:82-9.
2. Zarei SA, Sheibani V, Mansouri FA. Interaction of music and emotional stimuli in modulating working memory in macaque monkeys. American journal of primatology. 2019 Jul;81(7):e22999.
3. Zarei SA, Yahyavi SS, Salehi I, Kazemiha M, Kamali AM, Nami M. Toward reanimating the laughter‐involved large‐scale brain networks to alleviate affective symptoms. Brain and Behavior. 2022:e2640.
4. Zarei SA*, Shahriari-Khalaji M, Andolina IM, Behzadi G. Evaluation of c-Fos protein expression and NADPH-d reactivity in Neurobion pretreated rat model of inflammatory pain. bioRxiv. 2023 Nov. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2815413/v1; 2023
5. Shahveisi K, Zarei SA, Naderi S, Khodamoradi M. Role of sex hormones in the effects of sleep deprivation on methamphetamine reward memory. Neuroscience Letters. 2023 Aug 14:137440.
6. Khoshgard K, Mansoory MS, Nouri H, Tavares MC, Tomaz C, Zarei SA *. Effective connectivity within the corticothalamic circuit in the neuromyelitis optica patients: A comparative study using resting-state fMRI. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2022 Mar 1;97:25-31.
7. Zarei SA, Tomaz C, Vasconcelos C, Tavares MCH, Sarani M. On the Possibility to Use Oxytocin as A Potential Therapeutic Approach for Memory-Related Psychological Disorders. Int J Innov Educ Res. 2020;8(8):341–52.
8. Zarei SA, Shahriari-Khalaji M, Andolina IM, Behzadi G. Antinociceptive effects of vitamin B-complex: A behavioral and histochemical study in rats. IBRO Neuroscience Reports. 2023 Dec 1;15:270-80.
9. Khodamoradi M, Müller CP, Ghazvini H, Ghaderi A, Abdoli N, Zarei SA*. Targeting retrieval of methamphetamine reward memory in the context of REM sleep deprivation: Age-dependentrole of GABAB receptors. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 2024 Dec 1;245:173900
10. Shahab A. Zarei, Carlos Tomaz, Carlos Vasconcelos; Comparative studies on the effect of Oxytocin on memory: “Love hormone” to remember, “Love hormone” to forget. Nutrition, Brain and Behavior. 2019; 151-158.