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Dr Christopher Nolan

Dr Christopher Nolan

Postdoctoral Fellow
Science
School of Psychology

I am a computational neuroscientist interested in embodied intelligence; how brains have evolved to satisfy complex needs in complex environments. My research focuses on finding mechanistic motifs in the neural circuits underlying memory and decision making processes. I work both on developing models of neural circuits to demonstrate feasibility by example, and on building analysis pipelines to improve our inferential ability over large, complex neural datasets.
E-mail
christopher.nolan@unsw.edu.au
Location
Level 4, Mathews Building
  • Journal articles | 2026
    Abiero AR; Gladding JM; Iredale JA; Drury HR; Manning EE; Dayas CV; Dhungana A; Ganesan K; Turner K; Becchi S; Kendig MD; Nolan C; Balleine B; Castorina A; Cole L; Clemens KJ; Bradfield LA, 2026, 'Dorsomedial striatal neuroinflammation causes excessive goal-directed action control by disrupting astrocyte function', Neuropsychopharmacology, 51, pp. 486 - 496, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02247-4
    Journal articles | 2026
    Nolan CR; Le Pelley ME; Garner KG, 2026, 'Towards the Definition and Measurement of Routines and the Cognitive Processes that Underpin their Maintenance', Computational Brain and Behavior, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42113-026-00334-3
    Journal articles | 2024
    Ferguson LA; Matamales M; Nolan C; Balleine BW; Bertran-Gonzalez J, 2024, 'Adaptation of sequential action benefits from timing variability related to lateral basal ganglia circuitry', Iscience, 27, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.109274
    Journal articles | 2024
    Garner KG; Leow LA; Uchida A; Nolan C; Jensen O; Garrido MI; Dux PE, 2024, 'Assessing the influence of dopamine and mindfulness on the formation of routines in visual search', Psychophysiology, 61, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14571
    Journal articles | 2024
    Garner KG; Nolan CR; Nydam A; Nott Z; Bowman H; Dux PE, 2024, 'Quantifying Error in Effect Size Estimates in Attention, Executive Function, and Implicit Learning', Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001338
    Journal articles | 2024
    Hart G; Burton TJ; Nolan CR; Balleine BW, 2024, 'Striatal dopamine release tracks the relationship between actions and their consequences', Cell Reports, 43, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113828
    Journal articles | 2024
    Moia S; Wang H-T; Heinsfeld AS; Jarecka D; Yang YF; Heunis S; Svanera M; De Leener B; Gondová A; Kim S; Basavaraj A; Bayer JMM; Bayrak RG; Bazin P-L; Bilgin IP; Bollmann S; Borek D; Borghesani V; Cao T; Chen G; De La Vega A; Dresbach S; Ehses P; Ernsting J; Esteves I; Ferrante O; Garner KG; Gau R; Germani E; Ghafari T; Ghosh SS; Goodale SE; Gould van Praag CD; Guay S; Gulban OF; Halchenko YO; Hanke M; Herholz P; Heuer K; Hoffstaedter F; Huang R; Huber R; Jensen O; Keeratimahat K; Kosciessa JQ; Lukic S; Magielse N; Markiewicz CJ; Martin CG; Maumet C; Menacher A; Mentch J; Mönch C; More S; Muller-Rodriguez L; Nastase SA; Nicolaisen-Sobesky E; Nielson DM; Nolan CR; Paugam F; Pinheiro-Chagas P; Pinho AL; Pizzuti A; Poldrack B; Poser BA; Rocca R; Sanz-Robinson J; Sarink K; Sitek KR; Spychala N; Stirnberg R; Szczepanik M; Torabi M; Toro R; Urchs SGW; Valk SL; Wagner AS; Waite LK; Waite AQ; Waller L; Wishard TJ; Wu J; Zhou Y; Bijsterbosch JD, 2024, 'Proceedings of the OHBM Brainhack 2022', Aperture Neuro, 4, http://dx.doi.org/10.52294/001c.92760
    Journal articles | 2024
    Park J; Lingawi NW; Crimmins BE; Gladding JM; Nolan CR; Burton TJ; Laurent V, 2024, 'Stimulus–Outcome Associations Are Required for the Expression of Specific Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer', Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Learning and Cognition, 50, pp. 25 - 38, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xan0000371
    Journal articles | 2021
    Gau R; Noble S; Heuer K; Bottenhorn KL; Bilgin IP; Yang YF; Huntenburg JM; Bayer JMM; Bethlehem RAI; Rhoads SA; Vogelbacher C; Borghesani V; Levitis E; Wang HT; Van Den Bossche S; Kobeleva X; Legarreta JH; Guay S; Atay SM; Varoquaux GP; Huijser DC; Sandström MS; Herholz P; Nastase SA; Badhwar AP; Dumas G; Schwab S; Moia S; Dayan M; Bassil Y; Brooks PP; Mancini M; Shine JM; O'Connor D; Xie X; Poggiali D; Friedrich P; Heinsfeld AS; Riedl L; Toro R; Caballero-Gaudes C; Eklund A; Garner KG; Nolan CR; Demeter DV; Barrios FA; Merchant JS; McDevitt EA; Oostenveld R; Craddock RC; Rokem A; Doyle A; Ghosh SS; Nikolaidis A; Stanley OW; Uruñuela E; Anousheh N; Arnatkeviciute A; Auzias G; Bachar D; Bannier E; Basanisi R; Basavaraj A; Bedini M; Bellec P; Benn RA; Berluti K; Bollmann S; Bollmann S; Bradley C; Brown J; Buchweitz A; Callahan P; Chan MY; Chandio BQ; Cheng T; Chopra S; Chung AW; Close TG; Combrisson E; Cona G; Constable RT; Cury C; Dadi K; Damasceno PF; Das S; De Vico Fallani F; DeStasio K; Dickie EW; Dorfschmidt L; Duff EP; DuPre E; Dziura S; Esper NB; Esteban O; Fadnavis S; Flandin G; Flannery JE; Flournoy J; Forkel SJ, 2021, 'Brainhack: Developing a culture of open, inclusive, community-driven neuroscience', Neuron, 109, pp. 1769 - 1775, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.04.001
    Journal articles | 2021
    McFadyen J; Nolan C; Pinocy E; Buteri D; Baumann O, 2021, 'Doorways do not always cause forgetting: a multimodal investigation', BMC Psychology, 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00536-3
    Journal articles | 2021
    Wang C; Furlong TM; Stratton PG; Lee CCY; Xu L; Merlin S; Nolan C; Arabzadeh E; Marek R; Sah P, 2021, 'Hippocampus–prefrontal coupling regulates recognition memory for novelty discrimination', Journal of Neuroscience, 34, pp. 9617 - 9632, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1202-21.2021
    Journal articles | 2018
    Nolan CR; Vromen JMG; Cheung A; Baumann O, 2018, 'Evidence against the Detectability of a Hippocampal Place Code Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging', eNeuro, 5, pp. eneuro.0177 - eneu18.2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/eneuro.0177-18.2018
    Journal articles | 2014
    Ball D; Kliese R; Windels F; Nolan C; Stratton P; Sah P; Wiles J, 2014, 'Rodent Scope: A User-Configurable Digital Wireless Telemetry System for Freely Behaving Animals', PLOS ONE, 9, pp. e89949, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089949
    Journal articles | 2011
    Nolan CR; Wyeth G; Milford M; Wiles J, 2011, 'The race to learn: Spike timing and STDP can coordinate learning and recall in CA3', Hippocampus, 21, pp. 647 - 660, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hipo.20777
  • Preprints |
    Abiero AR; Gladding JM; Iredale JA; Drury HR; Manning EE; Dayas CV; Dhungana A; Ganesan K; Turner K; Becchi S; Kendig MD; Nolan C; Balleine B; Castorina A; Cole L; Clemens KJ; Bradfield LA, Dorsomedial striatal neuroinflammation causes excessive goal-directed action control by disrupting astrocyte function, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.24.620154
    Preprints |
    Barnes L; Nolan CR; Chung E; Welagedera D; Le Pelley M; Garner K, Contextual clarity during training hinders learning transfer but spares task-switching, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/znh47_v1
    Preprints |
    Garner K; Leow L-A; Uchida A; Nolan CR; Jensen O; Garrido M; Dux PE, Assessing the influence of dopamine and mindfulness on the formation of routines in visual search, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/2rd8n
    Preprints |
    Garner K; Nolan CR; Nydam AS; Nott Z; Bowman H; Dux PE, Quantifying Error in Effect Size Estimates in Attention, Executive Function and Implicit Learning, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/982mb
    Preprints |
    Gau R; Noble S; Heuer K; Bottenhorn KL; Bilgin IP; Yang Y-F; Huntenburg JM; Bayer JMM; Bethlehem RAI; Rhoads SA; Vogelbacher C; Borghesani V; Levitis E; Wang H-T; Van Den Bossche S; Kobeleva X; Legarreta Gorroño JH; Guay S; ATAY MS; Varoquaux GP; Huijser D; Sandström MS; Herholz P; Nastase SA; Badhwar A; Dumas G; Schwab S; Moia S; Dayan M; Bassil Y; Brooks PP; Mancini M; Shine J; O'Connor D; Xie X; Poggiali D; Heinsfeld AS; Friedrich P; Riedl L; Toro R; Caballero-Gaudes C; Eklund A; Garner K; Nolan CR; Demeter D; Barrios FA; Merchant JS; McDevitt EA; Oostenveld R; Craddock C; Rokem A; Doyle A; Esper NB; Ghosh SS; Langs G; Nikolaidis A; Stanley O; Uruñuela E; community B; anousheh N; Auzias G; Arnatkeviciute A; Bachar D; Bannier E; Basanisi R; Basavaraj A; Bedini M; Bellec L; Benn RA; Berluti K; Bollmann S; Bollmann S; Bradley C; Brown J; Buchweitz A; Callahan P; Chan M; Chandio BQ; Cheng TW; Chopra S; Chung AW; Close T; Combrisson E; Cona G; Constable RT; Cury C; KamalakerDadi ; Das S; Damasceno PF; De Vico Fallani F; DeStasio KL; Dickie EW; Dorfschmidt L; Duff E; DuPre E; Dziura SL; Esteban O; Fadnavis S; Flandin G; Flannery JE; Flournoy JC; Forkel SJ; Franco A; Ganesan S; Gao S; García Alanis JC; Garyfallidis E; Glatard T; Glerean E; Gonzalez-Castillo J; Gould van Praag CD; Greene AS; Gupta G; Hahn CA; Halchenko YO; Handwerker DA; Hartmann TS; Hayot-Sasson V; Heunis S; Hoffstaedter F; Horien C; Hohmann DM; Ioanas H-I; Kai J; Joseph M; Karakuzu A; Kennedy DN; Keshavan A; Khan AR; Kiar G; Klink PC; Koppelmans V; Koudoro S; Laird A; Laws M; Licandro R; Liew S-L; Lipic T; Litinas K; Lurie DJ; Lussier D; Madan CR; Mais L-T; Mansour L. S; Manzano-Patron JP; Maoutsa D; Marcon M; Margulies DS; Marinato G; Marinazzo D; Markiewicz CJ; MAUMET C; Meneguzzi F; Meunier D; Milham M; Mills KL; Momi D; Moreau CA; Motala A; Moxon-Emre I; Nichols T; Nielson DM; Nilsonne G; Novello L; O'Brien C; Olafson E; Oliver LD; Onofrey JA; Orchard ER; Oudyk K; Park P; Parsa M; Pasquini L; Peltier S; Pernet CR; Pienaar R; Pinheiro-Chagas P; Poline J-B; Qiu A; Quendera T; Rice L; Rocha-Hidalgo J; Rutherford S; Scharinger M; Scheinost D; Shariq D; Shaw T; Siless V; Simmonite M; Sirmpilatze N; Spence H; Sprenger J; Stajduhar A; Takerkart S; Szinte M; Tam A; Tejavibulya L; Thiebaut M; Thome I; da Silva LT; Traut N; Uddin L; Vallesi A; VanMeter AS; Vijayakumar N; Visconti di Oleggio Castello M; Vohryzek J; Vukojević J; Whitaker KJ; Whitmore L; Wideman S; Witt S; xie H; Xu T; Yan C-G; Yeh F-C; Yeo BTT; Zuo X-N, Brainhack: developing a culture of open, inclusive, community-driven neuroscience, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rytjq_v1
    Preprints |
    Gau R; Noble S; Heuer K; Bottenhorn KL; Bilgin IP; Yang Y-F; Huntenburg JM; Bayer JMM; Bethlehem RAI; Rhoads SA; Vogelbacher C; Borghesani V; Levitis E; Wang H-T; Van Den Bossche S; Kobeleva X; Legarreta Gorroño JH; Guay S; ATAY MS; Varoquaux GP; Huijser D; Sandström MS; Herholz P; Nastase SA; Badhwar A; Dumas G; Schwab S; Moia S; Dayan M; Bassil Y; Brooks PP; Mancini M; Shine J; O'Connor D; Xie X; Poggiali D; Heinsfeld AS; Friedrich P; Riedl L; Toro R; Caballero-Gaudes C; Eklund A; Garner K; Nolan CR; Demeter D; Barrios FA; Merchant JS; McDevitt EA; Oostenveld R; Craddock C; Rokem A; Doyle A; Esper NB; Ghosh SS; Langs G; Nikolaidis A; Stanley O; Uruñuela E; community B; anousheh N; Auzias G; Arnatkeviciute A; Bachar D; Bannier E; Basanisi R; Basavaraj A; Bedini M; Bellec P; Benn RA; Berluti K; Bollmann S; Bollmann S; Bradley C; Brown J; Buchweitz A; Callahan P; Chan M; Chandio BQ; Cheng TW; Chopra S; Chung AW; Close T; Combrisson E; Cona G; Constable RT; Cury C; KamalakerDadi ; Das S; Damasceno PF; De Vico Fallani F; DeStasio KL; Dickie EW; Dorfschmidt L; Duff E; DuPre E; Dziura SL; Esteban O; Fadnavis S; Flandin G; Flannery JE; Flournoy JC; Forkel SJ; Franco A; Ganesan S; Gao S; García Alanis JC; Garyfallidis E; Glatard T; Glerean E; Gonzalez-Castillo J; Gould van Praag CD; Greene AS; Gupta G; Hahn CA; Halchenko YO; Handwerker DA; Hartmann TS; Hayot-Sasson V; Heunis S; Hoffstaedter F; Horien C; Hohmann DM; Ioanas H-I; Kai J; Joseph M; Karakuzu A; Kennedy DN; Keshavan A; Khan AR; Kiar G; Klink PC; Koppelmans V; Koudoro S; Laird A; Laws M; Licandro R; Liew S-L; Lipic T; Litinas K; Lurie DJ; Lussier D; Madan CR; Mais L-T; Mansour L. S; Manzano-Patron JP; Maoutsa D; Marcon M; Margulies DS; Marinato G; Marinazzo D; Markiewicz CJ; MAUMET C; Meneguzzi F; Meunier D; Milham M; Mills KL; Momi D; Moreau CA; Motala A; Moxon-Emre I; Nichols T; Nielson DM; Nilsonne G; Novello L; O'Brien C; Olafson E; Oliver LD; Onofrey JA; Orchard ER; Oudyk K; Park P; Parsa M; Pasquini L; Peltier S; Pernet CR; Pienaar R; Pinheiro-Chagas P; Poline J-B; Qiu A; Quendera T; Rice L; Rocha-Hidalgo J; Rutherford S; Scharinger M; Scheinost D; Shariq D; Shaw T; Siless V; Simmonite M; Sirmpilatze N; Spence H; Sprenger J; Stajduhar A; Takerkart S; Szinte M; Tam A; Tejavibulya L; Thiebaut M; Thome I; da Silva LT; Traut N; Uddin L; Vallesi A; VanMeter AS; Vijayakumar N; Visconti di Oleggio Castello M; Vohryzek J; Vukojević J; Whitaker KJ; Whitmore L; Wideman S; Witt S; xie H; Xu T; Yan C-G; Yeh F-C; Yeo BTT; Zuo X-N, Brainhack: developing a culture of open, inclusive, community-driven neuroscience, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rytjq
    Preprints |
    Hart G; Burton TJ; Nolan CR; Balleine BW, Striatal dopamine encodes the relationship between actions and reward, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.31.478585
    Preprints |
    Nolan CR; Le Pelley ME; Garner KG, Towards the definition and measurement of routines and the cognitive processes that underpin their maintenance, http://dx.doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.26.714585
    Preprints |
    Nolan CR; Vromen JMG; Cheung A; Baumann O, Evidence against the detectability of a hippocampal place code using functional magnetic resonance imaging, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/229781