About

I'm a Computational Technical Expert at the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN), University of Reading, where I support the computational and methodological work behind the centre's neuroimaging and brain stimulation research.

I completed my PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford as a Clarendon Scholar, with a thesis on the sensorimotor control of speech, supervised by Prof. Kate Watkins and Prof. Heidi Johansen-Berg. My research was based at the Oxford Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (OxCIN). Before Oxford, I took an MSc in Psychology at the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University and a BSc at Northeast Normal University.

Alongside my role, I’m a speech and language neuroscientist. My research uses MRI to investigate how brain function and structure differ in people with speech and language disorders, and non-invasive brain stimulation to modulate and enhance speech production. I also study language production in bilinguals using MRI and brain stimulation, and collaborate on work examining the cerebellum’s role in speech and reading.

Recent publications

• The corticocerebellar network in speech adaptation: evidence from non-invasive brain stimulation and brain imaging Yuan Q DPhil thesis, University of Oxford (2026)
• Functional parcellation between bilingual language control and cognitive control in the cerebellum Chen J†, Chang Q†, Yuan Q†, Ma F, Chen M, Koch CG, Guo T Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1554(1), 280–290 (2025)
• Failure to replicate enhancement of speech adaptation using tDCS over motor cortex and cerebellum Yuan Q, Lametti DR, Williams I, Zhu H, Watkins KE Cortex, 192, 152–164 (2025)

All publications