4-Year Reece PhD Studentship: Remembering as a Quantum-Like Process in Newcastle upon Tyne

The Newcastle Centre for Transformative Neuroscience invites applications for two PhD Studentship schemes for entry in September 2026.

We are offering up to two, 4-year PhD studentships in translational systems neuroscience. These studentships are offered through the generous support of the Reece Foundation and align with the Foundation’s goals to provide further training in disciplines related to engineering.

This interdisciplinary project involves applying the quantum formalism (QF) to model experimental observations of human emotional memory performance, and the neural systems that support it, to better understand the interaction between elements. The quantum formalism provides a natural mechanism for modelling combinations of difficult-to-reconcile memory effects, such as the question order effect (where changing question order may change the respondent’s answer) and the response replicability effect (where repeated presentations of a question produce the same response across contexts). Conversely, the paradoxical temporal effects often observed in human memory performance mean it may provide a useful theatre for observing analogies of quantum phenomena we cannot access directly.

Temporally ordering the complex set of overlapping emotional events that comprise our lives is a demanding task, yet one our brains constantly undertake, providing shape and story to our lives. This ordering can enhance the detail, context, and accuracy of our memories - or be susceptible to distortions.

Behavioural Analysis: Initially, this project will use the QF to explore and model the role of emotional content and context on the temporal ordering and asynchronous retention of memories. Experiments will vary the proportion of negative, neutral, and positive stimuli and their relative temporal position to test predictions derived from this model. Behavioural outcomes measures will include memory performance and reaction time.

Implicit measures of memory encoding: We will use eye tracking to measure dependent variables (e.g., eye movement, pupil dilation, point of gaze, and blinking) to explore factors occurring during encoding of events containing different emotional content and occurring in different emotional contexts. We will apply the QF to these measurements to create a model that predicts the impact of emotional content on the order and duration of memory for events. Seeing how this model encodes and represents these dependent variables will allow us to identify them as analogues to experimentally-unobservable mathematical elements of the QF, allowing us to more directly intuit how they manifest.

By integrating these disciplines, we aim to develop a sophisticated model that explains how emotional events influence memory accuracy and perception of time. The quantum formalism, typically used in physics, provides a natural mechanism for modelling psychological phenomena such as the question order effect and response replicability effect, and critically, perceptual responses to these.

Supervisory Team: Dr Barbara-Anne Robertson (Lecturer, Psychology), Dr Jonte R Hance (Lecturer, Applied Quantum Foundations), Dr Quoc Vuong (Senior Lecturer, Psychology).