Current Position
Postdoctoral Researcher Oxford, UK
Decision and Action Laboratory, University of Oxford 2026 – Present
Education
University of Oxford Oxford, UK
DPhil in Experimental Psychology 2021 – 2026
- Dissertation: Learning Efficiently in Uncertain and Structured Worlds
- Advisors: Prof. Matthew F. S. Rushworth, Prof. Laurence T. Hunt
- Examiners: Prof. Thomas Akam, Prof. Nathaniel D. Daw
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
Visiting Graduate Scholar, Wharton Neuroscience Initiative 2020
University of Padua Padua, Italy
M.Sc. in Applied Cognitive Psychology (Cum Laude) 2018 – 2020
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands
Erasmus+ Programme 2018
University of Padua Padua, Italy
B.Sc. in Psychology (First Class Honours) 2014 – 2017
Research Interests
Decision-making · Computational modeling of cognition · Mechanistic Interpretability · Bayesian Inference · Generalization and Abstraction · Reinforcement learning
Publications
- D'Ambrogio, S., Grohn, J., Khalighinejad, N., Mattar, M., Hunt, L., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2026). Interpretable abstractions of artificial neural networks predict behavior and neural activity during human information gathering. Nature Neuroscience.
- D'Ambrogio, S., Fei, Z., Platt, M., & Feng, S. (2026). From pixels to preferences: Visual salience shapes economic choices beyond gaze alone. Nature Communications. (Under review)
- Miyamoto, K.*, D'Ambrogio, S.*, Harbison, C., Eichert, N., Schüffelgen, U., Emberton, A., Sallet, J., Mars, R. B., Khalighinejad, N., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2026). Brain activity, disruption and connectivity comparisons identify origins of human metacognition in other primates. Nature Human Behaviour, 1–22. (* Equal contribution)
- Priolo, G.*, Stablum, F.*, Vacondio, M.*, D'Ambrogio, S., Caserotti, M., et al. (2026). The robustness of mental accounting across 21 countries. Journal of Consumer Research. (In press) (* Equal contribution)
- Pan, D., D'Ambrogio, S., Kingston, N., Rascu, M., Sankhe, P., Luo, S., Klein-Flügge, M. C., Mahmoodi, A., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2025). Construction and disruption of cognitive graphs in the human hippocampus. Nature Human Behaviour. (Under review)
- D'Ambrogio, S., Werksman, N., Platt, M. L., & Johnson, E. N. (2023). How celebrity status and gaze direction in ads drive visual attention to shape consumer decisions. Psychology & Marketing, 40(4), 723–734.
- Ruggeri, K., Panin, A., … D'Ambrogio, S., … Zupan, Z., & García-Garzon, E. (2022). The globalizability of temporal discounting. Nature Human Behaviour, 6(10), 1386–1397.
Research Experience
Computational modeling, 7T fMRI, and non-invasive brain stimulation (TUS) to study information sampling, metacognition, and generalization in humans and macaques. 2021 – 2026
Eye-tracking, pupillometry, and drift-diffusion modeling of attention in consumer decision-making. 2020
Junior Researcher Programme Cambridge, UK
Computational modeling of decision-making and intertemporal choice. 2020
Behavioral experiments and modeling of judgment and decision-making for individual and societal well-being. 2018 – 2020
Psicostat Lab, University of Padua Padua, Italy
Development of statistical methods for behavioral science. 2017 – 2020
Awards & Honours
Excellence Award UK
For research contributions beyond expected grade level. Funded by the University of Oxford · £1,044 2025
PhD Scholarship in Psychological Sciences Italy
Funded by the University of Padua · €45,343 2020
Erasmus+ Scholarship, School of Psychology Italy
Funded by the University of Padua · €2,800 2018
Talks & Conference Presentations
Mathematics Of Neuroscience and AI (▶ Talk) Rome, Italy
Hybrid artificial neural network modelling predicts behaviour and neural activity in a solution for Buridan's ass. 2024
Foraging and Information Seeking Conference (Poster) Lyon, France
Discovery of Cognitive Strategies for Information Sampling with Deep Cognitive Modelling and Investigation of their Neural Basis. 2024
Interdisciplinary Symposium on Decision Neuroscience (Poster) Online
Visuospatial working memory modulates the influence of visual attention on binary choice. 2021
Wharton Neuroscience Initiative Annual Meeting (Talk) Online
The effect of celebrity and visual attention on value-based decisions. 2021
Society for Neuroeconomics (Poster) Online
The Effect of Celebrity and Visual Attention on Value-Based Decisions. 2020
Italian Ministry of Economic Development – Division V (Talk) Online
Lessons from Decision Neuroscience to Inform Policy Making. 2019
Junior Researcher Programme Conference (Poster) Siena, Italy
The Attentional Drift Diffusion Model with Temporal Information. 2019
Psicostat Meeting (Talk) Padua, Italy
Estimation of the attentional drift diffusion model parameters via Random Utility. 2019
Teaching
Neuroanatomy, University of Oxford Oxford, UK
Undergraduate tutorial teaching for Prof. Matthew F. S. Rushworth. 2022
Summer Schools
Project on fMRI decoding analysis supervised by Prof. Samuel J. Gershman. 2021
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, JSchool Siena, Italy
Studying how to improve real-world decision making. 2020
Technical Skills & Methods
| Computational Modeling | Neuroscience Methods | Programming & Infrastructure |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial neural networks · Symbolic regression · Reinforcement learning · Cognitive modelling · Bayesian statistics | Ultra-high field fMRI (7T) · Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) · Eye-tracking · Pupillometry · RSA · FSL | Python · Julia · R · JavaScript · HPC / SLURM · Git · LaTeX · Quarto |
References
Prof. Matthew F. S. Rushworth
Department of Experimental Psychology
University of Oxford
Prof. Laurence T. Hunt
Department of Experimental Psychology
University of Oxford
Prof. Michael L. Platt
Department of Neuroscience
University of Pennsylvania