Yuen Siang Ang
Profile
Biography
Dr Ang Yuen Siang is an Assistant Professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). He obtained his D.Phil. in Clinical Neurosciences from the University of Oxford, where he received the Excellent Thesis Letter of Commendation, and subsequently completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School as a recipient of the Harvard Medical School Kaplen Fellowship in Depression. Prior to this, he graduated top of his class from Nanyang Technological University with a B.Sc. in Applied Physics, receiving the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal and Koh Boon Hwee Scholars' Award.
Dr Ang is an interdisciplinary behavioural scientist whose research integrates behavioural science, cognitive neuroscience, adult learning, artificial intelligence and digital technologies to understand how adults acquire, regulate and transfer learning into real-world performance. His work spans metacognition, self-regulated learning, workplace learning, digital learning quality, motivation, decision-making and behavioural measurement, with a strong emphasis on translating scientific evidence into practical educational and workforce solutions.
He has published in leading international journals including Brain, Current Biology, Biological Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, and is leading nationally funded research on technology-enhanced learning, AI-enabled learner support and digital quality evaluation for Continuing Education and Training (CET). He actively collaborates with government agencies, industry partners and educational institutions to develop evidence-based innovations that improve adult learning and workforce capability.
SIT Appointments
- Assistant Professor– Present
Education
- D.Phil. (Clinical Neurosciences)University of Oxford , United Kingdom
- B.Sc. (Applied Physics)Nanyang Technological University , Singapore
Achievements
- Principal Investigator, WDARF Grant–
- Co-Principal Investigator, MOE Science of Learning Grant–
- Principal Investigator, Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation Young Investigator Award–
- Harvard Medical School Kaplen Fellowship–
- Harvard Medical School Livingston Award–
- Dorris Family Pilot Translational Research Award–
- Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal
- Koh Boon Hwee Scholars' Award
Research
Research Interests
- Adult Learning, Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning
Understanding how adults learn, monitor and regulate their own learning, and designing interventions that improve learning effectiveness, transfer and lifelong learning capability in workplace and Continuing Education and Training (CET) contexts.
- AI-Enabled Learning and Personalised Learner Support
Developing AI-enabled systems that interpret learner behaviour and reflection to provide personalised feedback, adaptive support and scalable digital learning experiences that enhance learning outcomes and workplace performance.
- Behavioural Measurement and Learning Analytics
Creating novel behavioural, computational and digital measures to evaluate learning quality, learner readiness, engagement, motivation, transfer and programme effectiveness across educational and workplace settings.
- Digital Learning Quality and Workforce Capability
Developing evidence-based frameworks and evaluation systems for digital Continuing Education and Training (CET), including benchmarking learning quality, learner experience, transfer and organisational value to support policy and educational innovation.
- Motivation, Decision-Making and Human Behaviour
Understanding how motivation, cognitive effort, decision-making and behavioural adaptation influence learning, performance and wellbeing, and applying these insights to improve education, healthcare and workforce development.
Current Projects
- Project DALQI: Benchmarking Digital Course Quality, Impact and Value– Present
A Workforce Development Applied Research Fund (WDARF) project developing the Digital Adult Learning Quality Index (DALQI), a psychometrically validated framework for evaluating the quality, impact and value of digital Continuing Education and Training (CET). The project combines learner experience, behavioural analytics and learning outcomes to support evidence-based improvement of workforce training.
- AI-Enabled Metacognitive Support for Adult Learning– Present
A Science of Learning project investigating how AI can interpret learner reflections and provide personalised metacognitive feedback to improve self-regulated learning, knowledge transfer and long-term learning capability in adults.
- MIMOSA: Multimodal AI Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder– Present
A collaborative initiative with Duke-NUS Medical School and KK Women's and Children's Hospital to develop an AI-enabled mobile application for early autism screening. The platform integrates caregiver-reported assessments, computer vision, eye-tracking and behavioural analytics to provide scalable, objective screening for autism in home and clinical settings, with the aim of facilitating earlier detection and intervention.
Publication
Journal Papers
Zhao S., Ye R., Sen A., Scholl J., Lockwood P., Cui L., Li M., Karatas K., Ang Y-S., Little S.J., Harmer C.J., He K., Li Q., Wang K., Apps M.A.J., Manohar S.G., Husain M. (2026). On the relationships between Apathy, Depression and Anhedonia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Zhao S., Ye R., Tang Q-Y., Attaallah B., Toniolo S., Saleh Y., Rouse M.A., Garrard P., Broulidakis M.J., Thompson S., Manohar S.G., Irani S.R., Ang Y-S., Lockwood P., Apps M.A.J., Hu P., Wang K., Rowe J.B., Le Heron C., Husain M. (2026). The social dimension of apathy: Evidence for a distinct domain from 11,243 individuals across health and neurocognitive disorders. Translational Psychiatry.
Suthaharan P., Castiello S., Ang Y-S., Corlett P. (2026). Self-Reflection Protects Behavior from Volatile Beliefs Linked to Paranoia. Computational Psychiatry.
Sapperstein M., Thai M., Ang Y-S., Pizzagalli D. (2026). Anhedonia and Altered Reward Responsiveness: Relations to Psychosocial Functioning. Journal of Mood & Anxiety Disorders.
Schettino M., Mastrocesare A., Bomarsi D., Ceccarelli I., Ang Y.-S., Pizzagalli D. A., Ottaviani C., Fagioli, S. (2026). Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of reward processing deficits in repetitive negative thinking: Implications for depression. Psychological medicine.
Chen Y., Ang Y-S., Cusin C., Fava M., Pizzagalli D. (2025). Exploring task design and heuristics interaction through a knowledge-free option generation task. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
Han M.X., Nadarajan R., Wang N., Kee M.Z.L., Lim S., Sagar Y.K., Chow B., Tan A.P., Cheon B.K., Ang Y-S., Zhou J.H., Chen H.Y., Chong Y.S., Gluckman P.D., Meaney M.J., Law E.C. (2025). Maternal depressive symptoms and risk for childhood depression: role of executive functions. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Cusin C., Dillon D.G., Belleau E., Normandin M.D., Petibon Y., El-Fakri G., Dhaynaut M., Hooker J., Kaptchuk T., McKee M., Hayden E., Meyer A., Jahan A., Origlio J., Ang Y-S., Brunner D., Kang M., Long Y., Fava M., Pizzagalli D.A. (2025). Novel multi-modal methodology to investigate placebo response in major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders.
Kangas B., Ang Y-S., Short A.K., Baram T., Pizzagalli D.A. (2024). Computational Modeling Differentiates Learning Rate from Reward Sensitivity Deficits Produced by Early Life Adversity in a Rodent Touchscreen Probabilistic Reward Task. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science.
Gigli V., Castellano P., Ghezzi V., Ang Y-S., Schettino M., Pizzagalli D.A., Ottaviani C. (2024). Daily social isolation maps onto distinctive features of anhedonic behavior: A combined ecological and computational investigation. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science.
Dillon D.G., Belleau E.B., Origlio J., McKee M., Jahan A., Meyer A., Souther M.K., Brunner D., Kuhn M., Ang Y-S., Cusin C., Fava M., Pizzagalli D.A. (2024). Using drift diffusion and RL models to disentangle effects of depression on decision-making vs. learning in the probabilistic reward task. Computational Psychiatry.
Ang Y-S., Gelda S., Pizzagalli D.A. Cognitive effort-based decision making in Major Depressive Disorder. (2023). Psychological Medicine.
Anant N., Kaur D., Nadarajan R., Phua D.Y., Yap S.C., Gluckman P.D., Yap F., Chen H., Broekman B., Meaney M.J., Ang Y-S. (2023). Validating the Children’s Depression Inventory-2: Results from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study. PLoS One.
Castellano P., Gigli V., Schettino M., Ghezzi V., Ang Y-S., Pizzagalli D.A., Ottaviani C. (2022). COVID-19 consequences on motivational functioning: an ecological investigation of the role of momentary gustative-olfactory sensitivity and tonic heart rate variability. Neuroscience Applied.
Ang Y-S, Cusin C., Petibon Y., Dillon D.G., Breiger M., Belleau E.L., Normandin M., Schroder H., Boyden S., Hayden E., Levine T., Jahan A., Meyer A.K., Kang, M-S. Brunner D., Gelda S.E., Hooker J., El Fakhri G., Fava M., Pizzagalli D.A. (2022). A multi-pronged investigation of option generation using depression, PET and modafinil. Brain.
Klar V.S., Ang Y-S., Lockwood P., Attaallah B., Dickson S., Drew D., Kienast A., Maio M.R., Plant O., Slavkova E., Toniolo S., Zambellas R., Irani S.R., Husain M. (2022). Assessment of apathy in neurological patients using the Apathy Motivation Index caregiver version. Journal of Neuropsychology.
Schettino M., Ghezzi V., Ang Y-S., Duda J.M., Fagioli S., Mennin D.S., Pizzagalli D.A., Ottaviani O. (2022). Perseverative Cognition in the Positive Valence Systems: An Experimental and Ecological Investigation. Brain Sciences.
Ang Y-S., Bruder G.E., Keilp J.G., Rutherford A., Alschuler D.M., Pechtel P., Webb C.A., Carmody T., Fava M., Cusin C., McGrath P.J., Weissman M., Parsey R., Oquendo M.A., McInnis M.G., Cooper C.M., Deldin P., Trivedi M.H., Pizzagalli D.A. (2022). An exploration of baseline and early changes in neurocognitive characteristics as predictors of treatment response to bupropion, sertraline and placebo in the EMBARC Clinical Trial. Psychological Medicine.
Ang Y-S., Pizzagalli D.A. (2021). Predictors of treatment outcome in adolescent depression. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry.
Suthaharan P., Corlett P., Ang Y-S. (2021). Computational modeling of behavioral tasks: An illustration on a classic reinforcement learning paradigm. The Quantative Methods for Psychology.
Belleau E.L., Kremens R., Ang Y-S., Pisoni A., Bondy E., Auerbach R.P., Pizzagalli D.A. Reward Functioning Abnormalities in Adolescents at High Familial Risk for Major Depressive Disorder. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
Ang Y-S., Frontero N., Belleau E., Pizzagalli D.A. (2020) Disentangling vulnerability, state and trait features of neurocognitive impairments in depression. Brain.
Pizzagalli D.A., Smoski M., Ang Y-S., Whitton A.E., Sanacora G., Mathew S.J., Nurnberger J., Lisanby S.H., Iosifescu D.V., Murrough J.W., Yang H., Weiner R.D., Calabrese J.R., Goodman W., Potter W.Z., Krystal A.D. (2020). Selective Kappa Opioid Antagonism Ameliorates Anhedonic Behavior: Evidence from the Fast-Fail Trial in Mood and Anxiety Spectrum Disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology.
Ang Y-S., Kaiser R., Deckersbach T., Almeida J., Phillips M.L., Chase H.W., Webb C.A., Parsey R., Fava M., McGrath P., Weissman M., Adams P., Deldin P., Oquendo M.A., McInnis M.G., Carmody T., Bruder G., Cooper C.M., Chin Fatt C.R., Trivedi M.H., Pizzagalli D.A. (2020). Pretreatment reward sensitivity and frontostriatal resting-state functional connectivity are associated with response to bupropion after sertraline non-response. Biological Psychiatry.
Le Heron C., Kolling N., Plant O., Kienast A., Janska R., Ang Y-S., Fallon S.J., Husain M., Matthew M.A.J. (2020). Dopamine and motivational state drive dynamics of human decision making. Journal of Neuroscience.
Whitton A., Reinen J., Slifstein M., Ang Y-S., McGrath J., Iosifescu D., Dargham A., Pizzagalli D., Schneier F. (2020). Baseline reward processing and ventrostriatal dopamine function is associated with pramiprexole response in depression. Brain.
Ang Y-S., Pizzagalli D.A. (2019). Understanding Personal Control and the Brain Reward System for Psychopathology is Challenging but Important. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
Fallon S.J., Kienast A., Muhammed K., Ang Y-S., Manohar S., Husain M. (2019). Dopamine D2 receptor stimulation modulates the balance between ignoring and updating according to baseline working memory ability. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Ang Y-S.*, Manohar S.*, Plant O., Kienast A., Le Heron C., Muhammed K., Hu M., Husain M. (2018). Dopamine modulates option generation for behaviour. Current Biology.
Le Heron C., Plant O., Manohar S., Ang Y-S., Jackson M., Lennox G., Husain M. (2018). Distinct effects of dopamine and apathy on effort based decision making in Parkinson’s disease. Brain.
Ang Y-S., Lockwood P., Kienast A., Plant O., Drew D., Slavkova E., Tamm M., Husain M. (2018). Differential impact of behavioural, social and emotional apathy on Parkinson’s disease. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
Boyle C.C., Dooley L.N., Kuhlman K.R., Haydon M.D., Nooteboom P., Robles T.F., Ang Y-S., Pizzagalli D.A., Bower J.E. (2018). Inflammation and dimensions of reward processing. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Fallon S.J., Muhammed K., Drew D.S., Ang Y-S., Manohar S., Husain M. (2018). Dopamine guides competition for cognitive control: Common effects of haloperidol on working memory and response conflict. Cortex.
Ang Y-S.*, Lockwood P.*, Apps M.A.J., Muhammed K., Husain M. (2017). Distinct subtypes of apathy revealed by the Apathy Motivation Index. PLoS One.
Lockwood P.*, Ang Y-S.*, Crockett M., Husain M. (2017). Motivated empathy: associations between empathy and apathy-motivation. in healthy people. Scientific Reports.
Ang Y-S., Manohar S., Apps M.A.J. (2015). Commentary: Noradrenaline and Dopamine Neurons in the Reward/Effort Trade-off: A Direct Electrophysiological Comparison in Behaving Monkeys. Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience.