Rongjun YU（余荣軍）

Associate Professor

B.Sc. (Nankai University), M.Sc. (Peking University), PhD (University of Cambridge)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0123-1524

Google Scholar profile;  Personal Webpage;

Listed among world’s top 2% scientists 2022, 2023,

Email: rongjunyu@hkbu.edu.hk

 

Academic & Professional Experience

2020-present, Associate Professor, Hong Kong Baptist University

2014-2020, Assistant Professor, National University of Singapore

2011-2014, Research fellow, Caltech and MGH-HMS

Awards and Recognition

“Award for Promising Researcher (APR)” 2015/16, NUS, Singapore.

“Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS)” 2022/23, RGC, HK.

Research Interests

  • Neuroeconomics/Social Neuroscience/Organizational Neuroscience
  • Educational Neuroscience
  • Behavioral interventions/nudges

Selected Research Grants as PI

  1. “A neurocognitive theory of unethical behavior and implications for organizational behavior,”Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS)RGC: HK$182,600.00, 1/01/23 → 31/12/23
  2. “Brain Connectome of model-based learning and cognitive flexibility in gifted individuals”, NSFC/RGC Joint Research SchemeRGC: HK$1,135,050.00, 1/01/24 → 31/12/27
  3. “Visual saliency and reward saliency guide decision making”,Tier 2 grant, Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore,Amount: S$498,558 ≈ HK$2,870,000, 2018-2020,
  4. “Aversive learning and memory under stress: a neuroimaging study”,Young Individual Research Grant, National Medical Research Council, Singapore,Amount: S$250,000 ≈ HK$1,440,000, 2017-2019,
  5. “You Are What You Surf: Characterizing Preference and Decision-making Styles With Digital Footprints”,Social Science Research Thematic Grant, MOE, Singapore,Amount: S$877,800 ≈ HK$5,042,000, 2018-2021,
  6. “Improving children’s social skills’, one of the three subprojects under the thematic project “Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study”, SG LEADS.The Ministry of Education Social Science Research Thematic Grant (PI: Prof Jean Yeung),Amount: S$8,479,995 ≈ HK$48,718,000, Subproject PI: YU, R.

 

 

Selected Publications (see the full list on Google Scholar profile)

Zher-Wen, Zhen, S., & Yu, R*. (2024). Moral characteristics predicting COVID‐19 vaccination. Journal of Personality, 92(3), 820-836. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12892

Varma, M. M., Zhen, S*., & Yu, R*. (2023). Not all discounts are created equal: regional activity and brain networks in temporal and effort discounting. NeuroImage, 120363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120363

Zhen, S., & Yu, R*. (2023). Social motives in children: Greed and fear in a social bargaining game. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 36(3), https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2305

Huang, Y*., Huang, X., & Yu, R*. (2023). The effectiveness of nonfinancial interventions and monetary incentives on COVID-19 vaccination: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 42(6), 411-424. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001288

Zher-Wen, & Yu, R*. (2023). Unconscious integration: Current evidence for integrative processing under subliminal conditions. British Journal of Psychology, 114(2), 430-456. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12631

Hashim, N., Fischer, N. L., Kim, E. B., Yeung, W. J. J., & Yu, R*. (2023). The influence of socioeconomic status and appearance-reality understanding on pre-schoolers’ sharing and generosity. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12451

Huang, Y., Pat, N., Kok, B. C., Chai, J., Feng, L., & Yu, R. (2023). Getting Over Past Mistakes: Prospective and Retrospective Regret in Older Adults. Journals of Gerontology – Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 78(3), 469-478. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac159

Huang, Y., Li, M., & Yu, R. (2023). Choice Reminder Modulates Choice-Induced Preference Change in Older Adults. Journals of Gerontology – Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 78(1), 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac142

Lei, W., Liu, K., Chen, G., Tolomeo, S., Liu, C., Peng, Z., Liu, B., Liang, X., Huang, C., Xiang, B., Zhou, J., Zhao, F., Yu, R*., & Chen, J*. (2022). Blunted reward prediction error signals in internet gaming disorder. Psychological Medicine, 52(11), 2124-2133. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329172000402X

Zhen, S., & Yu, R*. (2022). Spontaneous dishonesty does not specifically engage the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(27), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201445119

Wang, R., Zhen, S., Zhou, C*., & Yu, R*. (2022). Acute stress promotes brain network integration and reduces state transition variability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(24), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2204144119

Tolomeo, S., & Yu, R*. (2022). Brain network dysfunctions in addiction: a meta-analysis of resting-state functional connectivity. Translational Psychiatry, 12(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-01792-6

Zher-Wen, & Yu, R*. (2021). Unconscious preparation: Effects of prime visibility on semantic generalization of task priming. British Journal of Psychology, 112(4), 835-865. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12503

Zhen, S., Chowdhury, A., & Yu, R*. (2021). The neural underpinnings of allocentric thinking in a novel signaling task. NeuroImage, 230, [117808]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117808

Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R*., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (Quizzing) Boosts Classroom Learning: A Systematic and Meta-Analytic Review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399-435. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309

Huang, Y., Huang, X., Ebstein, R. P., & Yu, R*. (2021). Intranasal oxytocin in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders: A multilevel meta-analysis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 122, 18-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.028

Liu, C., Pu, M., Lian, W., Hu, L., Mobbs, D., & Yu, R*. (2020). Conscious awareness differentially shapes analgesic and hyperalgesic pain responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(11), 2007–2019. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000759

Huang, Y., Chai, J., Feng, L., & Yu, R*. (2020). Older Adults Show Diminished Sensitivity to Potential Losses in Social Bargaining. Journals of Gerontology – Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 75(8), 1699-1704. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz113

Liu, C., Huang, Y., Chen, L., & Yu, R*. (2020). Lack of evidence for the effect of oxytocin on placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 89(3), 185-187. https://doi.org/10.1159/000504967

Chang, J., Hu, J., Li, C. S. R., & Yu, R*. (2020). Neural correlates of enhanced response inhibition in the aftermath of stress. NeuroImage, 204, [116212]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116212

Yaple, Z. A., & Yu, R*. (2019). Fractionating adaptive learning: A meta-analysis of the reversal learning paradigm. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 102, 85-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.04.006

Huang, Y., Zhen, S., & Yu, R*. (2019). Distinct neural patterns underlying ingroup and outgroup conformity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(11), 4758-4759. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819421116

Wang, S*., Yu, R*., Tyszka, J. M., Zhen, S., Kovach, C., Sun, S., Huang, Y., Hurlemann, R., Ross, I. B., Chung, J. M., Mamelak, A. N., Adolphs, R., & Rutishauser, U*. (2017). The human amygdala parametrically encodes the intensity of specific facial emotions and their categorical ambiguity. Nature Communications, 8, [14821]. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14821

Yu, R. (2016). Stress potentiates decision biases: A stress induced deliberation-to-intuition (SIDI) model. Neurobiology of Stress, 3, 83-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2015.12.006

Huang, Y., Kendrick, K. M., & Yu, R*. (2014). Conformity to the Opinions of Other People Lasts for No More Than 3 Days. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1388-1393. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614532104

Yu, R., Mobbs, D., Seymour, B., Rowe, J. B., & Calder, A. J. (2014). The neural signature of escalating frustration in humans. Cortex, 54, 165-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.02.013

Yu, R., Chien, Y. L., Wang, H. L. S., Liu, C. M., Liu, C. C., Hwang, T. J., Hsieh, M. H., Hwu, H. G., & Tseng, W. Y. I. (2014). Frequency-specific alternations in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in schizophrenia. Human Brain Mapping, 35(2), 627-637. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22203

Yu, R., Zhao, L., Tian, J., Qin, W., Wang, W., Yuan, K., Li, Q., & Lu, L. (2013). Regional homogeneity changes in heavy male smokers: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Addiction Biology, 18(4), 729-731. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00359.x

Yu, R*. (2013). Revenge, even though it is not your fault. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 36(1), 40-41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X12000623

Yu, R*., Mobbs, D., Seymour, B., & Calder, A. J. (2010). Insula and Striatum Mediate the Default Bias. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(44), 14702-14707. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3772-10.2010

Mobbs, D., Yu, R., Rowe, J. B., Eich, H., FeldmanHall, O., & Dalgleish, T. (2010). Neural activity associated with monitoring the oscillating threat value of a tarantula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(47), 20582-20586. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009076107

Mobbs, D., Yu, R., Meyer, M., Passamonti, L., Seymour, B., Calder, A. J., Schweizer, S., Frith, C. D., & Dalgleish, T. (2009). A Key Role for Similarity in Vicarious Reward. Science, 324(5929), 900. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1170539

Yu, R., & Zhou, X. (2009). To Bet or Not to Bet? The Error Negativity or Error-related Negativity Associated with Risk-taking Choices. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21(4), 684–696. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21034

Yu, R., & Zhou, X. (2006). Brain responses to outcomes of one’s own and other’s performance in a gambling task. NeuroReport, 17(16), 1747-1751. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.wnr.0000239960.98813.50

 

International Editorial Boards 

Associate Editor, Neurobiology of Stress, 2019 – present

Editorial Board Member, Stress and Brain,

Consulting Editor, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

 

Supervision as Principal Supervisor

PhD students’ placement

  1. Dr. Shanshan Zhen (2016-2020 at NUS), placement: Assistant Professor at City University of Hong Kong,
    Thesis title: Computational and neural foundations of strategic reasoning in human decision-making
  2. Dr. Cuizhen Liu (2016-2020 at NUS), placement: Associate Professor at Shaanxi Normal University, China,
    Thesis title: Computational and neural mechanisms of judgment and introspection
  3. Dr. Avijit Chowdhury (2016-2020 at NUS), placement: research fellow, Harvard UniversityThesis title: Neurocognitive mechanisms of regret and its dysfunctions in depression
  4. Dr. Zher-Wen (2016-2020 at NUS), placement: Assistant Professor, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Malaysia.Thesis title: Higher-level integrative processing under subliminal conditions

Postdoctoral fellows’ placement:

  1. Narun Pornpattananangkul, placement: Assistant. Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  2. Chunliang Yang, placement: Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China
  3. Serenella Tolomeo, placement: Research Scientist, Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore
  4. Elizabeth Kim, placement: Research Scientist, National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore
  5. Zachary A Yaple, placement: Research Fellow, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  6. Nastassja Lopes Fischer, placement: Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  7. Jingjing Chang, placement: Assistant Professor, Xiamen University, China

 

Teaching activities

2014/2015 – SEM 2, PL4205- Developmental Processes,

2015/2016 – SEM 1, PL4238- Social Neuroscience,

2015/2016 – SEM 2, PL4205- Developmental Processes,

2016/2017 – SEM 1, PL4205- Developmental Processes,

2016/2017 – SEM 2, PL3289- Lab in Decision Science,

2017/2018 – SEM 2, PL3260- Moral Development,

2017/2018 – SEM 2, PL6888- Social & Cognitive Neuroscience,

2018/2019 – SEM 2, PL3260- Moral Development,

2018/2019 – SEM 2, PL5308- Advanced Social and Cognitive Neuroscience,

2019/2020 – SEM 1, PL3289- Lab in Decision Science,

2019/2020 – SEM 1, PL4238- Social Neuroscience,

2021/2022 – SEM 1, BUSI3066- Brain Science for Business

2023/2024 – SEM 1, BUSI3066- Brain Science for Business