Fudan University: Bachelor of Science


Peking University: PhD in cognitive neuroscience

Dr. Yina Ma is currently the director of Social & Affective NeuroPharmacology (SANP) Lab, Principal Investigator and full professor at State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University. She was a Research Scientist at Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins University. She is elected member of the Executive Committee at the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society, and currently serving at the editorial boards of Emotion, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, and Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, and as associate editor of Biological Psychology.

Integrating neuroscience techniques (including intracranial EEG, fNIRS, fMRI, tDCS, etc.), pharmacological challenge, computational modeling, and disorder models, Dr Ma’s research group aims to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social decision-making during real-time interpersonal and intergroup interactions and to reveal how the mechanisms are altered. These findings have been published on high-profile journals such as Nature Neuroscience, PNAS, Molecular Psychiatry, Brain, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, eLife, etc. The long-term goals of the research group are to uncover the central neurobiological determinants of human social behaviors, and to integrate its empirical findings with public mental health issues to promote well being, social functioning, and treatment for related mental disorders.

Selected publications (*Corresponding author), see full publications at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GhpPZvEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

1. Quintana, D.S., Lischke, A., Grace, S., Scheele, D., Ma, Y., Becker B. (2021). Advances in the field of intranasal oxytocin research: lessons learned and future directions for clinical research. Molecular Psychiatry, 26 (1), 80-91.

2. Yang, J., Zhang, H., Ni, J., De Dreu, C., Ma, Y.* (2020). Within-group synchronization in the prefrontal cortex associates with intergroup conflict. Nature Neuroscience. 23, 754–760.

3. De Dreu, C., Gross, J., Fariña, A., Ma, Y. (2020). Group cooperation, carrying-capacity stress, and intergroup conflict. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24, 760-776.

4. Wang, D. Ma, Y.*. (2020). Oxytocin facilitates valence-dependent valuation of social evaluation of the self. Communications biology 3 (1), 1-12.

5. Liu, Y., Li, S., Lin, W., Li, W., Yan, X., Wang, X., Pan, X., Rutledge, R.B., Ma, Y.* (2019). Oxytocin modulates social value representations in the amygdala. Nature Neuroscience, 22, 633-41.

6. Zhang, H., Gross, J., De Dreu, C., Ma, Y.*(2019). Oxytocin promotes coordinated out-group attack during intergroup conflict in humans. eLife, 8, e40698.

7. Yan, X., Yong, X., Huang, W.,Ma, Y.* (2018). Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 115:5732-5737.

8. Feng, C., Yan, X., Huang, W., Han, S.,Ma, Y.* (2018). Neural representations of the multidimensional self in the cortical midline structures. NeuroImage 183, 291-299.

9. Wang, D., Yan, X., Li, M., Ma, Y.* (2017). Neural substrates underlying the effects of oxytocin: A quantitative meta-analysis of pharmaco-imaging studies. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12: 1565-1573.

10. Ma, Y.,* Li, S., Wang, C., Liu, Y., Li, W. et al.  (2016). Distinct oxytocin effects on belief updating in response to desirable and undesirable feedback. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA,113:9256-61.

11. Ma, Y.,* Shamay-Tsoory, S., Han S., Zink, C. F. (2016).Oxytocin and Social Adaptation: Insights from Neuroimaging Studies of Healthy and Clinical Populations. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20: 133–145.

12. Ma, Y.,* Wang, C., Luo, S., Li, B., Wager, T.D., Rao, Y. et al. (2016). Serotonin transporter polymorphism alters citalopram effects on human pain responses to physical pain. Neuroimage, 135:186-96.

13. Ma, Y.* (2015). Neuropsychological mechanism underlying antidepressant effect: a systematic meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry, 20: 311-319.

14. Han, S. & Ma, Y.* (2015). A culture-behavior-brain loop model of human development. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19: 666-676.

15. Ma, Y.,* Liu, Y., Rand, D. G., Heatherton, T. F., Han. (2015). Opposing oxytocin effects on inter-group cooperative behavior in intuitive and reflective minds. Neuropsychopharmacology, 40: 2379-2387.

16. Ma, Y.,* Li, B., Zhang, W., Rao, Y., Han, S. (2015). Allelic variation in 5-HTTLPR and the effects of citalopram on the emotional neural network. British Journal of Psychiatry, 206: 385-392.

17. Ma, Y., Wang, C., Shi, Z., Sun, Y., Sheng, F. et al. (2014). 5-HTTLPR polymorphism modulates neural mechanisms of negative self-reflection. Cerebral Cortex, 24, 2421-2429.

18. Han, S. & Ma, Y.* (2014).  Cultural differences in human brain activity. NeuroImage, 99, 293-300.

19. Ma, Y.,* Wang, C., Li, B., Zhang, W., Rao, Y. et al. (2014). Does self-construal predict activity in the social brain network? A genetic moderation effect. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9, 1360-1367.

20. Ma, Y., Bang, D., Wang, C., Allen, M., Frith, C. D. et al. (2014). Sociocultural patterning of neural activity during self‐reflection. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9, 73-80.