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Masud is Professor of Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, where he also holds a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship. His research group spans the Nuffield Dept of Clinical Neurosciences and the Dept of Experimental Psychology. He is lead for the Neurological Conditions theme of the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

Masud was inspired to pursue a career in Neuroscience and Neurology during his time as a medical student at °ÅÀÖ¶ÌÊÓƵ (1981-84). He obtained his DPhil in Physiological Sciences at Oxford (1987) and went on to hold a Harkness Fellowship at MIT. On returning to Oxford he completed his clinical training (1991) before embarking on postgraduate training in London.

He held a Wellcome Trust Advanced Fellowship and was subsequently awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship (2000-12). At Imperial College London he was Reader in Neurology and at the UCL Institute of Neurology he held the appointment of Professor of Neurology (2005-12).

°ÅÀÖ¶ÌÊÓƵ has been an inspiration to Masud ever since he first entered the grounds by mistake in 1980 on an awkward visit to find out about Oxford. It turned out not only to be one of the most beautiful colleges in the University but also a fantastic setting in which to learn – and now to teach in. 

- @MasudHusain

Research Interests

Masud and his research group study:

• Brain mechanisms underlying attention, memory and motivation
• Disorder of attention, memory and motivation in brain disorders
• Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and vascular dementia

Selected Major Publications:

• Attallaah B et al (2024) The role of the human hippocampus in decision-making under uncertainty. Nature Human Behaviour doi: 10.1038/s41562-024-01855-2.
• Lockwood PL et al (2024) Human ventromedial prefrontal cortex is necessary for prosocial motivation.
  Nature Human Behaviour doi: 10.1038/s41562-024-01899-4.
• Costello H et al (2024) Apathy and Motivation: Biological Basis and Drug Treatment. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology 64:313-338.
• Petitet P et al (2021) The computational cost of active information sampling before decision-making under uncertainty. Nature Human Behaviour 5:935-46
• Veldsman M et al (2020) Cerebrovascular risk factors impact frontoparietal network integrity and executive function in healthy ageing. Nature Communications 11:4340. 
• Le Heron C et al (2018) Distinct effects of apathy and dopamine on effort-based decision-making in Parkinson's disease. Brain 141:1455-69.
• Husain M & Roiser R (2018) The neuroscience of apathy and anhedonia: A transdiagnostic approach. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 19:470-484.
• Chong T-J et al (2017) Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying subjective valuation of effort costs. PLoS Biology 15(2):e1002598.
• Muhammed K et al M (2016) Reward sensitivity deficits modulated by dopamine are associated with apathy in Parkinson's disease. Brain 139:2706-21.
• Husain M & Schott J eds. (2016) Oxford Textbook of Cognitive Neurology & Dementia. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Manohar SG et al (2015) Reward pays the cost of noise reduction in motor and cognitive control. Current Biology 25:1707-16.
• Ma WJ et al (2014) Changing concepts of working memory. Nature Neuroscience 17: 347-356.
• Gorgoraptis N et al (2012) The effects of the dopamine agonist rotigotine on hemispatial neglect following stroke. Brain 135: 2478-91. 
• Bays PM et al (2010) Integration of goal- and stimulus-related visual signals revealed by damage to human parietal cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 30: 5968-5978. 
• Malhotra P et al (2009) Role of right posterior parietal cortex in maintaining attention to spatial locations over time. Brain 132: 645-660. 
• Bays PM et al (2009) The precision of visual working memory is set by allocation of a shared resource. Journal of Vision 9: 1-11. 
• Bays PM, Husain M. (2008) Dynamic Shifts of Limited Working Memory Resources in Human Vision. Science 321: 851-854. 
• Coulthard E et al (2008) Control over conflict during movement preparation: Role of posterior parietal cortex. Neuron 58: 144-57. 
• Nachev P et al (2008) Functional role of the supplementary and pre-supplementary motor areas. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9:856-869. 
• Sumner P et al (2007) Human medial frontal cortex mediates unconscious inhibition of voluntary action. Neuron 54: 697-711. 
• Malhotra P et al (2005) Spatial Working Memory Capacity in Unilateral Neglect. Brain 128: 424-435. 
• Nachev P et al (2005) Volition and conflict in human medial frontal cortex. Current Biology 15: 122-128. 
• Bird CM et al (2004) The impact of extensive medial frontal damage on ‘Theory of Mind’ and cognition. Brain 127: 914-928. 
• Husain M et al (2003) Self-control during response conflict by human supplementary eye field. Nature Neuroscience 6:117-8. 
• Mort DJ et al (2003) The anatomy of visual neglect. Brain 126: 1986-97. 
• Husain M, Rorden C. (2003) Non-spatially lateralized mechanisms in hemispatial neglect. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 4: 26-36. 
• Husain M et al (2001) Impaired spatial working memory across saccades contributes to abnormal search in parietal neglect. Brain 124: 941-952. 
• Mattingley JB et al (1998) Motor role of human inferior parietal lobe revealed in unilateral neglect patients. Nature 392: 179-182. PMID: 9515962
• Wolpert D et al (1998) Maintaining internal representations: the role of the human superior parietal lobe. Nature Neuroscience 1: 529-533. 
• Husain M et al (1997) Abnormal temporal dynamics of visual attention in spatial neglect patients. Nature 385: 154-156 

For full list: