Yuan Chang (YC) Leong is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. He received his A.B. in Psychology from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. He then completed his postdoctoral training at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley before moving to the University of Chicago.

Research in his lab investigates the neural and computational mechanisms underlying how goals, beliefs, and emotions influence human cognition. He probes this question across multiple levels of cognitive processing, from perception and attention, to memory and decision-making, to affective and social reasoning. His work uses a combination of convergent tools, including functional brain imaging (e.g., fMRI, fNIRS), naturalistic task paradigms, computational cognitive models, natural language processing tools, and machine learning methods.