Buddhika Bellana

Buddhika Bellana is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Science at Glendon College, York University. They lead the Memory & Meaning Lab, which investigates human memory, spontaneous thought, and narrative processing. Bellana holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto (2013–2018) and postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins University (2018–2021) and the University of Toronto (2020–2021). Their research focuses on episodic memory, the role of narratives in cognition, and the neural mechanisms underlying spontaneous thought, particularly involving the default mode network and hippocampus. Bellana has secured grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for projects on memory consolidation and predictive models in naturalistic contexts. They teach courses such as 'Stories, Minds, and Brains' and 'Introduction to Experimental Psychology,' and mentor graduate students exploring topics like curiosity, aging, and episodic memory. The lab collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to apply natural language processing and machine learning to study timeless narratives and mental context persistence.

• Education:
• PhD in Psychology, University of Toronto (2013–2018)
• MA in Psychology, University of Toronto (2012–2013)
• BA in Psychology, York University (2007–2012)
• Research Interests: Episodic memory, spontaneous thought dynamics, narrative analysis, neuroimaging, default mode network, aging, computational modeling.
• Grants: Multiple NSERC grants (2012–2028) focused on memory, predictive models, and aging.
• Labs/Teams: Principal Investigator of the Memory & Meaning Lab; collaborations with institutions like Johns Hopkins University and York University.