Principal Investigator

​Dr. MaryAnn Noonan

MaryAnn Noonan is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of York. MaryAnn completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of York and her MSc and DPhil in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Her DPhil and subsequent post-doctoral position with Matthew Rushworth in the Decision and Action Lab focused on the neural basis of learning, decision making and social cognition. She then spent a further year as a postdoctoral research fellow at McGill University working with Lesley Fellows before taking up a postdoctoral position in the Attention & Working Memory Group, OHBA, with Mark Stokes. There she investigated the neural suppression of distracting information.

MaryAnn's research explores how individuals learn and make decisions. Her work investigates how cognitive functions responsible for goal-directed behaviour develop across adolescence and how the brain adapts during this critical period of life.

MaryAnn's Google Scholar profile can be found here. 
For a full academic bio, see her CV.

PhD Students

Nicoleta Gavrila

Boluwatife is a medical doctor who graduated with numerous prizes and honours from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 2019. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience, and is now pursuing the DPhil in Psychiatry. 
Bolu’s DPhil explores the relationship between adverse childhood events and neural networks involved in decision-making. This work uses various computational techniques in view of creating a predictive model for mental health in those most affected by adverse events. 
Her overarching goal is to address mental health problems, particularly in children and adolescents, as a clinician-scientist. She aspires to contribute to the development of mental health services across Africa.
​Daniel Berry
Daniel is a PhD researcher at the University of York under the supervision of Dr. MaryAnn Noonan and Professor Alex Wade. Daniel completed his Bachelor's degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, then worked as a healthcare assistant at Stockton Hall forensic mental health hospital before joining the Developmental Neuroscience Lab in 2024. Daniel's PhD research focuses on the component processes of reward-guided choice. His aim is to investigate how reward-guided choice is affected by depression and apathy.

​Nicoleta Gavrila

Nico is a PhD candidate at the University of York under the supervision of Dr. MaryAnn Noonan and Dr. Kenji Kobayashi. Nico completed her Bachelor's degree in Romania before moving to York where she completed an MSc in Development, Disorders and Clinical Practice. Alongside her doctoral studies, she works as a research trainee with Silke Göbel in the Numerical Cognition Lab, where she investigates the development of boundaries in conceptual knowledge and the development of proficiency with rational numbers.
Nico’s PhD research focuses on the development of adaptive learning and decision-making. Her work utilizes computational models to understand how preschool children rely on different learning mechanisms as they grow. Additionally, she aims to investigate whether children employ cognitive maps to organise information during trial-and-error-based learning and explore the neural architecture involved in reward-based probabilistic learning. Furthermore, her research will look into the critical relationships between these learning mechanisms, mental health, and school performance.
CURRENT: MScs
​Learning & decision-making in early childhood
Isabel Anderson and Ridhika Wakode will be conducting their MSc project in my lab with Dan Berry. Their project will be a high-resolution investigation of neural networks involved in reward learning and depression.​
Learning & decision-making in early childhood
Afiq Luqman, Riya Kulkarni, Lorain Menezes, Rachel Semken and Sam Vonk will be conducting their MSc project in my lab with Nico Gavrila to investigate how learning and decision making mechanisms mature in early childhood. They are planning to invite children in primary school to participate in simple decision making games. 

​Collaborators

Lab Alumni

  • Anna Alvarez, Carys Grieve, Devanshi Kasabwala, Hajra Khan, Emily Lione, Chantal McLaren and Eve Shakespeare group MSc project 2025, University of York
  • Matt Higgins, Hannah Williams and Molly Peel MSci students 2024, University of York
  • Michelle Kit, Zhing (Acelz) Tian Lee, Vanditha Sujeer, Donda Whitworth, Lisa Woodley MSc students 2024 (with Rebecca Jackson) University of York
  • Musal Ayobi, Anna-María Hartley, Sofia Verissimo Silva MSc students 2023 (with Alex Pike) University of York
  • Amna Zulfiqar, MSc student 2022 (with Rogier Mars), University of Oxford
  • Sophie Gibbons, previous Research Assistant and Laboratory Manager
  • Maximilian Scheuplein, previous Research Assistant and Laboratory Manager
  • Juliette Westbrook, Undergraduate Student, University of Oxford
  • ​Morwenna Rickard, Undergraduate Student, University of Oxford 
  • Linette Chan, Undergraduate Student, University of Oxford
  • Maya Siriwardena, Undergraduate Student, University of Oxford
  • Emman Hallam, Undergraduate Student, University of Oxford​