Biography
Dr. Yi Wang is currently an Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. Supported by the China Scholarship Council, she undertook a one-year academic visit at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge (2016–2017) to further advance her research in clinical cognitive neuroscience.
Her research focuses on the psychopathological underpinnings of social cognition, ecological evaluation of empathic processing, and the cognitive and neural mechanisms of social cognitive processing in both healthy individuals and populations across the psychiatric spectrum. As a Principal Investigator, she has successfully completed two research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), including a Young Investigator Grant and a General Program Grant. She has also participated in several key national research initiatives, covering the NSFC Key Program and the National Science and Technology Innovation 2030 Project, and has served as a co-investigator on the NSFC-RGC collaborative research project.
Dr. Wang has an extensive publication record of over 150 peer-reviewed articles, with an H-index of 34 and 4,146 total citations (retrieved from Scopus in July 2026, https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55924864900). Her empirical findings have been published in a series of high-profile international journals, including Schizophrenia Bulletin, Psychological Medicine, Journal of Affective Disorders, and Human Brain Mapping, as well as authoritative core Chinese psychological journals.
Dr. Wang has earned multiple prestigious international academic honors throughout her career, including the 2014 Young Investigator Award from the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS), the 2017 Young Investigator Award from the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research (ICOSR), and the 2017 Wiley-IPCAS Prize for Excellence in Psychological Science. She is an active member of numerous distinguished academic societies and currently serves as a regular peer reviewer for a broad range of high-impact journals in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Research Interests
· Ecological assessment of social cognition: Adopting ecological momentary assessment, physiological measurements, virtual reality, and real-life interpersonal interaction paradigms to systematically evaluate social cognitive functioning in naturalistic daily contexts.
· Cognitive and neural mechanisms of social cognition: Exploring the core cognitive processes, neural substrates, and regulatory factors that underpin key social cognitive competencies, encompassing emotion recognition, theory of mind, and empathic processing.
· Psychopathological mechanisms of social cognitive deficits: Characterizing aberrant social cognitive performances and their underlying pathological mechanisms in clinical and subclinical individuals affected by schizophrenia, depression, and autism spectrum disorders.
· Early identification of at-risk mental states: Focusing on subclinical traits such as schizotypal and autistic traits to unravel the developmental psychological and neural mechanisms of maladaptive social behaviors, and to identify valid neurocognitive biomarkers for the early screening and detection of psychiatric disorders.
Recent Publications
Wang, M., Zhu, G.-H., Yang, J., Fu, X.-W., Zhang, L.-Y., Hu, D.-D., Lui, S., Wang, Y.-Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2026). Differential impacts of audiovisual information on empathic accuracy in people with schizophrenia and high social anhedonia. Psychological Medicine, 56, e72. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329172610364X
Gu, J., Hu, W., Meng, X., Zhang, L., Wang, M., Cao, Y., Barkus, E., Lui, S. S. Y., Wang, Y.-Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2026). Altered empathy in daily life of individuals with high social anhedonia: An experience sampling study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 192, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.10.033
Tuo, X., Zhou, H.-Y., & Wang, Y. (2026). Social priors and mentalizing connectivity across autistic and schizotypal traits. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 21(1), nsag033. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsag033
Xie, Y., Li, Y., Wang, Y.-Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2026). The relationship between childhood trauma, inhibitory dysfunction, and emotion processing: Exploring differences across social anhedonia levels. Journal of Affective Disorders, 401, 121312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.121312
Cao, Y., Hu, D., So, W. W. Y., Wang, Y., Guo, X., Chan, R. C. K., & Shum, D. H. K. (2026). Theory of mind difficulties in people with social anhedonia: Evidence from behavioural and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging findings. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 43, 100402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scog.2025.100402
Chan, R. C. K., Wang, L.-L., Wang, Y., & Lui, S. S. Y. (2026). Revisiting social anhedonia: Beyond monolithic assessments and interventions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 09637214261436743. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214261436743
Wang, L.-L., Gao, Y., Yan, C., Hu, H., Huang, J., Lui, S. S. Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2026). Altered posterior mid-cingulate cortex activation during adaptive coding in individuals with schizotypal traits, subthreshold depression and autistic traits. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 193, 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.11.022
Shen, L., Xie, C., Liu, C., Wang, Y.-Y, Wang, Y., Yan, C., & Chan, R. C. K. (2026). Diminished anticipatory-consummatory pleasure interplay in high schizotypal traits and subthreshold depression: Potential risk for schizophrenia and depression. Schizophrenia. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-026-00746-x
Hu, D.-D, Guo, X., Lui, S. S. Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2025). Negative Schizotypy Associated With Weaker Intersubject Correlation in Dynamic Functional Connectivity During Empathic Accuracy Task. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 51(Supplement_2), S183–S193. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbad182
Gu, J., Ding, X., Yang, J., Meng, X., Hu, W., Li, X., Wang, Y.-Y, Wang, Y., Lui, S. S. Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2025). Individuals with High Social Anhedonia but not Schizophrenia Exhibited Altered Empathy in Daily Life. Schizophrenia Bulletin, sbaf136. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaf136
Zhang, L.-Y., Wang, M., Fu, X.-W., Chen, S.-N., Gu, J., Li, S.-B., Chu, M.-Y., Wang, Y.-Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2025). Moderation effect of emotional expressivity on the associations between schizotypal traits, autistic traits and social pleasure. PsyCh Journal, 14(4), 545–559. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.70003
Cao, Y., So, W. W. Y., Wang, Y., Hu, D., Xie, Y., Gu, J., Chan, R. C. K., & Shum, D. H. K. (2025). Adaptation of the virtual assessment of mentalizing ability and evaluation of its utility and psychometric properties in Chinese individuals on the schizophrenia spectrum. Schizophrenia, 11(1), 43. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00594-1
Chu, M., Li, S., Zhang, Y., Wang, L., Lv, Q., Lui, S. S. Y., Wang, Z., Yi, Z., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2025). Cognitive inflexibility shares across schizophrenia and obsessive–compulsive disorder: A task-based functional MRI study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, sbaf220. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaf220
Cheng, N., Li, C., Wang, Y., & Wang, Z. (2025). The Double-Edged sword of parental empathy in parenting practice and its association with children’s externalizing and internalizing problems. Children and Youth Services Review, 169, 108057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.108057
Chan, R. C. K., Wang, L., Huang, J., Wang, Y., & Lui, S. S. Y. (2025). Anhedonia Across and Beyond the Schizophrenia Spectrum. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 51(2), 293–308. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbae165
Wang, M., Zhang, L.-Y., Fu, X.-W., Wang, Y., Jiang, Y., Cao, Y., Wang, Y.-Y., Chan, R. C. K. (2025). Investigating the Differential Effects of Audio-visual Information and Emotional Valence on Empathic Accuracy. Journal of Psychological Science, 48(3): 567-576. https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250306
Hu, D.-D, Guo, X., Zheng, H., Yan, C., Lui, S. S. Y., Wang, Y.Y., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2024). Empathic accuracy in individuals with schizotypal personality traits. PsyCh Journal, 13(5), 813–823. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.743
Guo X.-D., Zheng H., Ruan D., Hu D.D., Wang Y., Wang Y.-Y., Chan, R. C. K. (2023). Associations between empathy and negative affect: Effect of emotion regulation. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(6), 892-904. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00892
Guo, X.-D, Zheng, H., Ruan, D., Wang, Y., Wang, Y.-Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2023). Altered empathy correlates with reduced social and non-social reward anticipation in individuals with high social anhedonia. PsyCh Journal, 12(1), 92–99. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.592
Chu, M., Xu, T., Wang, Y., Wang, P., Gu, Q., Liu, Q., Cheung, E. F. C., Chan, R. C. K., & Wang, Z. (2022). The impact of childhood trauma on thalamic functional connectivity in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder. Psychological Medicine, 52(13), 2471–2480. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720004328
Guo, X., Wang, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2022). Mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between schizotypy and empathy. PsyCh Journal, 11(3), 335–343. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.551
Liang, Y., Zhou, S., Zhang, Y., Cai, X., Wang, Y., Cheung, E. F. C., Lui, S. S. Y., Yu, X., Madsen, K. H., Ma, Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2022). Altered empathy-related resting-state functional connectivity in patients with bipolar disorder. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 272(5), 839–848. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01305-4
Shan, H., Liu, Y., Zhao, Q., Wang, Y., Wang, Y.-M., Cheung, E. F., Chan, R. C., & Wang, Z. (2022). Distinct clinical manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder are associated with cortical thickness alteration. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(2), 186–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674211009623
Wang, K.-L., Liang, K., Wang, L.-J., Shen, J.-F., Zhu, G.-H., Zhang, S.-X., Wang, X.-Z., Wang, Y., & Wang, Y.-Y. (2022). The association of glutamate level in pregenual anterior cingulate, anhedonia, and emotion-behavior decoupling in patients with major depressive disorder. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 78, 103306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103306
Wang, Y.-Y., Wang, Y., Huang, J., Sun, X., Wang, X., Zhang, S., Zhu, G., Lui, S. S. Y., Cheung, E. F. C., Sun, H., & Chan, R. C. K. (2022). Shared and distinct reward neural mechanisms among patients with schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder: An effort-based functional imaging study. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 272(5), 859–871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01376-3
Yang, H.-X., Hu, H.-X., Zhang, Y.-J., Wang, Y., Lui, S. S. Y., & Chan, R. C. K. (2022). A network analysis of interoception, self-awareness, empathy, alexithymia, and autistic traits. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 272(2), 199–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01274-8
Su, L., Surendranathan, A., Huang, Yujing., Bevan-Jones, W. R., Passamonti, L., Hong, Y. T., Arnold, R., Rodríguez, P. V., Wang, Y., Mak, E., Fryer, T. D., Aigbirhio, F., Rowe, J. B., & O’Brien, J. T. (2021). Relationship between tau, neuroinflammation and atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease: The NIMROD study. Information Fusion, 67, 116–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2020.10.006