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Maryam Ziaei

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Maryam Ziaei

Associate professor
Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Department of Language and Literature

maryam.ziaei@ntnu.no
Øya, Olav Kyrres gate 9
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About Research Publications Teaching Outreach

About

CV

Maryam Ziaei obtained her Bachelor of Clinical psychology from Isfahan University in Iran and pursued her master’s in clinical neuropsychology at Shahid Beheshti University, Iran. After a short stay in Sweden, she then moved to Australia and received her PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the School of Psychology, at the University of Queensland (UQ). Following the completion of her postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Advanced Imaging, UQ, she joined Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway to establish her research group. She is currently an associate professor and group leader, and the primary focus of her group is to understand neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social and emotional processing in aging. Having lived and worked in four different cultures, Maryam is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in science and currently serves on the Diversity and Inclusivity committee of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping. She is actively engaged in the strategic decisions for the DEI issue exampled by a recent blog on this topic from the OHBM committee (Results from the Survey on Inclusivity at OHBM: Summary and Future Directions - ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING (ohbmbrainmappingblog.com) / Best practices for ensuring diversity of presenters at OHBM - ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING (ohbmbrainmappingblog.com)) and her podcast on this topic (The ALBA Diversity Podcast | Alba Network)

We have now completed data collection for the Trondheim Aging Brain Study with more than 160 participants who underwent 7T MRI scans, testing neural correlates of social-emotional processes in aging! Check out the report here in English or Norwegian

Our Kavli website : https://www.ntnu.edu/kavli/ziaei-group#/view/about

Our Aging Brain study website: https://www.ntnu.edu/kavli/eldre

 

Competencies

  • Affective neuroscience
  • Aging
  • Experimental design
  • Neuroimaging

Research

What do we know?

We normally talk about aging concerning cognitive decline and so-called “deficits” in cognitive aspects or slowness in physical processes. While we observe slowing and deterioration in physical and cognitive domains, this is not the whole story of aging. Research has shown that emotional processes stay the same or even improve with age. This phenomenon is known as the “positivity effect” which posits that older adults’ motivational shift helps them to focus on positive emotions and prioritize information that is relevant to their goals.

We have shown that older adults show a preference for positive, over negative, items related to the engagement of a different brain network known as the cognitive control network (Neuropsychologia, 2016). In other words, older adults can control their negative emotions better than younger adults. Importantly, such a shift in preference for different emotions has consequences for older adults’ social communications. Older adults’ preference for emotional items impacts their empathic response toward others (Neuropsychologia, 2019) and their ability to understand others’ mental states (Neurobiology of Aging, 2016)! So now the question is: what are the predictors explaining whether individuals show attentional biases toward positive emotions in older age?

Key questions:

  • What are the age-related neural correlates underlying individual responses towards social and emotional cues in the environment?
  • How do neural correlates of emotional and social processes contribute to mental health in healthy and clinical aging?

Tools

  • functional magnetic resonance imaging using 3T and 7T
  • Volumetric analysis of cortical and subcortical areas
  • White matter tractography
  • Eye-tracking
  • Physiological response recording 
  • Personal website
  • Public report on Trondheim Aging Brain Study
  • Aging Brain Study website

Master / PhD projects

Detecting brain disorders using deep neural networks, resting state fMRI, and structural MRI

PhD project

Predicting psychopathology using a combination of physiological, fMRI, cognitive and self-report measures.

PhD Project

Uncertainty processing and activation of the basolateral amygdala in healthy aging

Master / PhD project

The role of cortical-subcortical brain connectivity during ambiguity processing and change with age

Participate in our study!

Participate in our study to help us better understand emotional well-being during aging!

Publications

Ziaei, M., Bonyadi, M.R. & Reutens, D.C. Age-related differences in structural and functional prefrontal networks during a logical reasoning task,

We examined structural and functional profiles of logical reasoning in healthy aging in this project

Ziaei, M., Persson, J., Bonyadi, M.R., Reutens, D.C. & Ebner, N.C. (2019) Amygdala functional network during recognition of own-age vs. other-age faces in younger and older adults.

Amygdala network is differentially activated in response to facial cues

Ziaei, M., Salami, A.R. & Persson, J. (2017). Age-related alterations in functional connectivity patterns during working memory encoding of emotional items

Older adults process negative emotions differently than younger adults, using a more regulatory network

Ziaei. M., Burianová, H., von Hippel, W., Ebner, N., Phillips, L.H. & Henry, J.D. (2016), The impact of aging on the neural correlates involved in gaze and emotional processing

Facial cues are processed differently depending on the emotional valence among younger and older adults

For a full list of publications please visit my google scholar page

Peer-Reviewed Publications (Selected Prior to 2021)

  • Ziaei, M., Bonyadi, M.R. & Reutens, D.C. Age-related differences in structural and functional prefrontal networks during a logical reasoning task, Brain Imaging and Behavior, DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00315-5
  • Shaw, T., York, A., Ziaei, M., Barth, M. & Bollmann, S. Longitudinal Automatic Segmentation of Hippocampal Subfields (LASHiS) using Multi-Contrast MRI, Neuroimage, 218, 116798.
  • Ziaei, M., Bonyadi, M.R. & Reutens, D.C. Role of the hippocampus in logical reasoning and belief bias in aging, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12:111 
  • Ziaei, M., Persson, J., Bonyadi, M.R., Reutens, D.C. & Ebner, N.C. (2019) Amygdala functional network during recognition of own-age vs. other-age faces in younger and older adults. Neuropsychologia, 129, 10-20.
  • Horta, M., Ziaei, M., Lin, T., Porges, E.C., Fischer, H., Feifel, D., Spreng, N., and Ebner, N.C. (2019). Oxytocin alters patterns of brain activity and amygdalar connectivity by age during dynamic facial emotion identification, Neurobiology of Aging, 78, 42-51.
  • Ziaei, M., Samrani, G. & Persson, J. (2018). Age differences in the neural response to emotional distraction during working memory encoding, Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 18, 869–883.
  • Ziaei, M., Salami, A.R. & Persson, J. (2017). Age-related alterations in functional connectivity patterns during working memory encoding of emotional items, Neuropsychologia, 94, 941-12.
  • Ziaei. M., Ebner, N.C. & Burianová, H. (2016). A multivariate analysis of brain networks involved in gaze and emotional processing, European Journal of Neuroscience, 45, 2: 312-320.
  • Ziaei. M., Burianová, H., von Hippel, W., Ebner, N., Phillips, L.H. & Henry, J.D. (2016), The impact of aging on the neural correlates involved in gaze and emotional processing, Neurobiology of Aging, 48, 182-194.
  • Peira, N., Ziaei, M. & Persson, J. (2015), Age differences in brain systems supporting transient and sustained processes involved in prospective memory and working memory. NeuroImage, 125, 745-755.
  • Ziaei, M., von Hippel, W., Henry, J.D., Becker, S.I. (2015), Are age effects in positivity influenced by the valence of distractors? PLOS one, 10(9): e0137604.
  • Ziaei, M., Peira, N. & Persson, J. (2014), Brain systems underlying attentional control and emotional distraction during working memory encoding, NeuroImage, 87, 276-286

Invited Book Chapter

Ziaei, M. & Fischer, H. (February 2016), Emotion and Aging: The impact of emotion on attention, memory, and face recognition in late adulthood. In J. R. Absher & J. Cloutier (Eds.), Neuroimaging Personality Neuroimaging Personality, Social Cognition, and Character. Elsevier.

Selected Posters since 2016: 

  •    Ziaei, M., Oestreich, L., Persson, J., Reutens, D.C. & Ebner, N.C. Neural correlates of affective empathy in aging: A multimodal imaging and multivariate approach, Federation European Neuroscience Societies, Paris, 2022.
  •   Ziaei, M., Oestreich, L., Reutens, D.C. & Ebner, N.C. Age-related differences in negative cognitive empathy but similarities in positive affective empathy, Oral presentation, Australian Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Online, 2021.
  •    Ziaei, M., Oestreich, L., Reutens, D.C. & Ebner, N.C. Age-related differences in negative cognitive empathy but similarities in positive affective empathy, Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Online, 2021.
  •   Pehlivanoglu, D., Polk, R., Lin, T., Horta, M., Frazier, I., Ziaei, M., Feifel, D. & Ebner, N.C. Perceived facial trustworthiness in older men is modulated by chronic intranasal oxytocin administration, 2020 Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, USA.
  •  Pehlivanoglu, D., Polk, R., Lin, T., Horta, M., Frazier, I., Ziaei, M., Feifel, D. & Ebner, N.C. Chronic intranasal oxytocin administration in older men modulates decisions about facial trustworthiness as a function of eye gaze and facial age, Interdisciplinary Symposium on Decision Neuroscience conference, 2019, North Carolina, USA.
  •  Horta, M., Ziaei, M., Lin, T., Porges, E.C., Fischer, H., Feifel, D., Spreng, N. & Ebner, N.C. Intranasal oxytocin modulates amygdalar connectivity by age during dynamic facial emotion identification, Poster Presentation, Sixth Biennial Conference on Resting State and Brain Connectivity, 2018, Montreal, Canada.
  •   Schaumberg, M., Blackmore, D., Ziaei, M., Riek, S. & Bartlett, P. Optimising exercise for cognitive health in older adults: a randomised controlled clinical trial, Oral Presentation, Research to Practice conference, 2018, Brisbane, Australia.
  •   Carroll, A.M., Sanders, E., Forrest, K., Bower, J., Marstaller, L., Ziaei, M., Fynes-Clinton, S., Flynn, L. & York, A. Mindfulness and health enhancement interventions for teachers: Results of a mixed methods study, Oral Presentation, International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, 2018, Gold Coast, Australia.
  •   Becker, S.I., Ziaei, M., Jones, E. & Remington, R.W. Participant beliefs determine whether VSTM items capture attention or not, Oral presentation, International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, 2018, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  •  Ziaei, M., Bonyadi, M.R. & Reutens, D. Neural networks of logical reasoning and the influence of belief system, Oral presentation, International Science of Learning Conference, 2017, Brisbane, Australia.
  •  Ziaei. M., Burianová, H., von Hippel, W., Ebner, N.C., Phillips, L.H. & Henry, J.D. Age-related changes in processing facial cues in aging, poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience, 2017, Los Angeles, USA.
  •  Horta, M., Lin, T., Ziaei, M., Soliman, A., Porges, E.S., Feifel, D., Oliveira, D., Fischer, H., Cohen, R.A., & Ebner, N.C. Effects of single-dose intranasal oxytocin on dynamic facial emotion identification among young and older adults, Annual Meeting of the Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience, 2017, Los Angeles, USA.
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2025

  • Hong, Jae S.; Bätz, Leona Rahel; Ye, Shuer; Reutens, David C.; Ebner, Natalie C.; Ziaei, Maryam. (2025) Similar neural networks for anger and pride in older adults. Neuropsychologia
    Academic article

2024

  • Shoenfelt, Alayna; Pehlivanoglu, Didem; Lin, Tian; Ziaei, Maryam; Feifel, David; Ebner, Natalie C.. (2024) Effects of chronic intranasal oxytocin on visual attention to faces vs. natural scenes in older adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology
    Academic article

2023

  • Bonyadi, Mohammad Reza; Wang, Rui; Ziaei, Maryam. (2023) Self-Punishment and Reward Backfill for Deep Q-Learning. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems
    Academic article

2022

  • Haugen, Randi Wenche; Whitlock, Jonathan Robert; Ziaei, Maryam. (2022) NTNU Evening: Presentation of the Kavli Prizes awarded in Neuroscience 2020 and 2022. NTNU Evening: Presentation of the Kavli Prizes awarded in Neuroscience 2020 and 2022
    Other presentation
  • Huuha, Aleksi Matias; Norevik, Cecilie Skarstad; Moreira, Jose Bianco Nascimento; Kobro-Flatmoen, Asgeir; Scrimgeour, Nathan Robert; Kivipelto, Miia. (2022) Can exercise training teach us how to treat Alzheimer's disease?. Ageing Research Reviews
    Academic literature review
  • Tari, Atefe R; Selbæk, Geir; Franklin, Barry A.; Bergh, Sverre; Skjellegrind, Håvard; Sallis, Robert E.. (2022) Temporal changes in personal activity intelligence and the risk of incident dementia and dementia related mortality: A prospective cohort study (HUNT). EClinicalMedicine
    Academic article
  • Lin, Tian; Pehlivanoglu, Didem; Ziaei, Maryam; Liu, Peiwei; Woods, Adam J.; Feifel, David. (2022) Age-Related Differences in Amygdala Activation Associated With Face Trustworthiness but No Evidence of Oxytocin Modulation. Frontiers in Psychology
    Academic article
  • Ziaei, Maryam; Arnold, Charlotte; Thompson, Kate; Reutens, David C.. (2022) Social Cognition in Temporal and Frontal Lobe Epilepsy: Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Clinical Recommendations. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
    Academic literature review
  • Ziaei, Maryam; Oestreich, Lena; Persson, Jonas; Reutens, David C.; Ebner, Natalie C.. (2022) Neural correlates of affective empathy in aging: A multimodal imaging and multivariate approach: Abbreviated title: Multimodal and multivariate approach to empathy. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition
    Academic article

2021

  • Ziaei, Maryam; Oestreich, Lena; Reutens, David C.; Ebner, Natalie C.. (2021) Age-related differences in negative cognitive empathy but similarities in positive affective empathy. Brain Structure and Function
    Academic article

Journal publications

  • Hong, Jae S.; Bätz, Leona Rahel; Ye, Shuer; Reutens, David C.; Ebner, Natalie C.; Ziaei, Maryam. (2025) Similar neural networks for anger and pride in older adults. Neuropsychologia
    Academic article
  • Shoenfelt, Alayna; Pehlivanoglu, Didem; Lin, Tian; Ziaei, Maryam; Feifel, David; Ebner, Natalie C.. (2024) Effects of chronic intranasal oxytocin on visual attention to faces vs. natural scenes in older adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology
    Academic article
  • Bonyadi, Mohammad Reza; Wang, Rui; Ziaei, Maryam. (2023) Self-Punishment and Reward Backfill for Deep Q-Learning. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems
    Academic article
  • Huuha, Aleksi Matias; Norevik, Cecilie Skarstad; Moreira, Jose Bianco Nascimento; Kobro-Flatmoen, Asgeir; Scrimgeour, Nathan Robert; Kivipelto, Miia. (2022) Can exercise training teach us how to treat Alzheimer's disease?. Ageing Research Reviews
    Academic literature review
  • Tari, Atefe R; Selbæk, Geir; Franklin, Barry A.; Bergh, Sverre; Skjellegrind, Håvard; Sallis, Robert E.. (2022) Temporal changes in personal activity intelligence and the risk of incident dementia and dementia related mortality: A prospective cohort study (HUNT). EClinicalMedicine
    Academic article
  • Lin, Tian; Pehlivanoglu, Didem; Ziaei, Maryam; Liu, Peiwei; Woods, Adam J.; Feifel, David. (2022) Age-Related Differences in Amygdala Activation Associated With Face Trustworthiness but No Evidence of Oxytocin Modulation. Frontiers in Psychology
    Academic article
  • Ziaei, Maryam; Arnold, Charlotte; Thompson, Kate; Reutens, David C.. (2022) Social Cognition in Temporal and Frontal Lobe Epilepsy: Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Clinical Recommendations. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
    Academic literature review
  • Ziaei, Maryam; Oestreich, Lena; Persson, Jonas; Reutens, David C.; Ebner, Natalie C.. (2022) Neural correlates of affective empathy in aging: A multimodal imaging and multivariate approach: Abbreviated title: Multimodal and multivariate approach to empathy. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition
    Academic article
  • Ziaei, Maryam; Oestreich, Lena; Reutens, David C.; Ebner, Natalie C.. (2021) Age-related differences in negative cognitive empathy but similarities in positive affective empathy. Brain Structure and Function
    Academic article

UTSTILLING

  • Haugen, Randi Wenche; Whitlock, Jonathan Robert; Ziaei, Maryam. (2022) NTNU Evening: Presentation of the Kavli Prizes awarded in Neuroscience 2020 and 2022. NTNU Evening: Presentation of the Kavli Prizes awarded in Neuroscience 2020 and 2022
    Other presentation

Teaching

Courses

  • NEVR3003 - Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience
  • NEVR3901 - Thesis in Neuroscience

Supervision

PhD Students:

Shuer Ye: Thesis title: Spatio-temporal neural correlates of Resilience in the aging brain

Arjun Dave: Thesis title: Neural Correlates of Social Cognitive Processes and arousal system 

Xiaoran Gao: Thesis title: Neural Networks of ambiguity processing in depression

Master Students:

Leona Bätz: Emotion regulation network across the lifespan 

Avneesh Jain: Real-life emotional experience and lab-based anxiety response

Reza Ebrahimian: Prediction of early AD using deep neural network

Jasper Mostert: Connectome-based predictive modeling in aged population 

Jae Hong: Amygdala and its network during emotional perception 

Sara Sareban Nejad: Structural networks underlying emotion regulation networks across the lifespan 

Bachelor Students:

Janina Klarmann: Correlates of eye gaze pattern during emotion recognition with anxiety symptoms 

Outreach

Report

Completion of Trondheim Aging Brain Study! Check out our report!

Research participation!

Join our research and contribute to science! We are not able to understand the brain without your help and your contribution!

Panel Discussion - World Science Festival (2018)

I have been invited to a panel discussion with the world-known physicist and founder of the World Science Festival, Prof. Brian Greene, to discuss neural mechanisms underpinning belief and how that might be related to different behaviours.

Documentary Memory Matters (2018)

We presented a task to measure memory while the moderator of the episode (shown below) while she went through brain imaging herself and shared her experience in the episode afterwards. This was aired on national TV in Australia on ABC catalyst.

Public talk - Pint of Science (2018)

I participated in the Pint of Science where we had a presentation in a local pub and discussed scientific evidence for how to keep our brain healthy

Brain health course (2021)

I have created a course on brain and mental health in which I discuss the 7 pillars of brain health and provide easy, evidence-based, practical tips on how to improve brain health.

Public talk - Brain health in aging (2022)

My first public engagement was for the library as part of the public lecture for the Royal Norwegian Society for Sciences and Letters.

NTNU Researchers' night (2022)

I had a presentation for high school students as part of the Researchers’ night where I presented how emotions are made in the brain.

Public talk - Kavli prize week (2022)

As part of the Kavli prize week, I presented the work of four Kavli Prize Laureates of 2022, Prof. Huda Zoghbi, Prof. Christopher Walsh, Prof. Jean-Louis Mandel, and Prof. Harry Orr at the Dokkhuset.

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