Research groups
Colleges
Websites
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Personal webpage
Personal webpage
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Dementia Research Oxford
Oxford University webpage
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Neurological Conditions Theme, BRC
Biomedical Research Centre
Biography
Masud is Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. He co-leads the Dementia Theme of the Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and is Editor-in-Chief of Brain. Together with Cornelia van Duijn, he leads Dementia Research Oxford.
Between 2013-23 he held a Principal Fellowship at Oxford, awarded by The Wellcome Trust. He is a Professorial Fellow at New College. Previously he was Professor of Clinical Neurology at UCL & The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, London and Deputy Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Masud read Physiological Sciences / Medicine (1981-84) at Oxford before completing his PhD here in 1987. He held a Harkness Fellowship and was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, prior to returning to Oxford to finish his clinical degree. After Neurology training in London, he held a joint appointment as Consultant Neurologist and Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow (2000-12), first at Imperial College, then at UCL.
Awards
- Winner, Royal Society Trivedi Best Science Book, 2025
- CLARIVATE highly-cited researcher, 2025
- Graham Bull Prize in Clinical Science, Royal College of Physicians London
- Elizabeth Warrington Prize, British Neuropsychological Society.
- Fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences
- Fellow of American Academy of Neurology
- Fellow of European Academy of Neurology
Masud Husain
MA DPhil BMBCh FRCP FMedSci FAAN FEAN
Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience
- Professorial Fellow, New College
- Co-lead, Dementia Theme, Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
- Co-lead, Dementia Research Oxford
- Editor-in-Chief, Brain
Memory and motivation in health and dementia
Research Summary
My research focuses on
- Memory in healthy individuals and patients with memory disorders
- Motivation and apathy in healthy people and patient groups
We're funded by The Wellcome Trust and the NIHR Oxford Health BRC.
We see patients in the Cognitive Disorders Clinic at the John Radcliffe Hospital and the Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Dept of Experimental Psychology.
Our research on fundamental mechanisms underlying attention, working memory and motivated decision-making in healthy people is conducted in our research centres at the Dept of Experimental Psychology and the West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital.
Masud's new book
Winner, Royal Society Trivedi Best Science Book, 2025 and a Financial Times, Times and Guardian Best Science Book, 2025
Key publications
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The computational cost of active information sampling before decision-making under uncertainty.
Journal article
Petitet P. et al, (2021), Nat Hum Behav
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Cerebrovascular risk factors impact frontoparietal network integrity and executive function in healthy ageing.
Journal article
Veldsman M. et al, (2020), Nat Commun, 11
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Neuroscience of apathy and anhedonia: a transdiagnostic approach
Journal article
Husain M. and Roiser J., Nature Reviews Neuroscience
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Changing concepts of working memory.
Journal article
Ma WJ. et al, (2014), Nat Neurosci, 17, 347 - 356
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Dynamic shifts of limited working memory resources in human vision.
Journal article
Bays PM. and Husain M., (2008), Science, 321, 851 - 854
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Functional role of the supplementary and pre-supplementary motor areas.
Journal article
Nachev P. et al, (2008), Nat Rev Neurosci, 9, 856 - 869
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Abnormal temporal dynamics of visual attention in spatial neglect patients.
Journal article
Husain M. et al, (1997), Nature, 385, 154 - 156
Recent publications
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Active information sampling in health and disease
Journal article
Attaallah B. et al, (2025), Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 175
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General paresis of the insane: a diagnosis not to forget.
Journal article
Husain M., (2025), Brain, 148, 2593 - 2594
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Goal-directedness deficit in Huntington's disease.
Journal article
Morris L-A. et al, (2025), Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci
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Working memory filtering at encoding and maintenance in healthy ageing, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Journal article
Toniolo S. et al, (2025), Sci Rep, 15
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Mapping of validated apathy scales onto the apathy diagnostic criteria for neurocognitive disorders.
Journal article
Sankhe K. et al, (2025), Int Psychogeriatr
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Dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions differentially impact social influence and temporal discounting.
Journal article
Su Z. et al, (2025), PLoS Biol, 23
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Clinical research in the UK is failing: universities and NHS trusts need to change.
Journal article
Husain M., (2025), BMJ, 388
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Investigating the impact of electroconvulsive therapy on brain networks and sleep: an observational study protocol.
Journal article
Kafashan M. et al, (2025), BMJ Open, 15
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Decision cost hypersensitivity underlies Huntington's disease apathy.
Journal article
Morris L-A. et al, (2025), Brain, 148, 861 - 874
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On the responsibilities of intellectuals and the rise of bullshit jobs in universities.
Journal article
Husain M., (2025), Brain, 148, 687 - 688