Charan Ranganath

Charan Ranganath is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, and director of the Dynamic Memory Lab. He is affiliated with the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience and the Center for Mind and Brain, focusing on human memory and executive control using neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and behavioral methods. His research explores the neural basis of memory, including roles of the prefrontal cortex, medial temporal lobes, and hippocampus in working and long-term memory.

Education:

• Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Northwestern University
• M.S., Clinical Psychology, Northwestern University
• B.A., Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Ranganath’s research spans hippocampal-cortical interactions, curiosity-driven memory enhancement, schizophrenia-related memory deficits, and computational models of memory systems. His work reveals overlapping prefrontal and medial temporal lobe activity in memory tasks and investigates how stress, aging, and neuromodulation affect memory dynamics.

His research trends emphasize episodic memory, relational memory, neural oscillations, cortico-hippocampal networks, curiosity-driven learning, and clinical applications in mental illness.

Scientific Awards:

• Guggenheim Fellowship
• Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorship
• Laird Cermak Award
• Samuel Sutton Award
• Chancellor’s Fellow award
• Young Investigator Award (Cognitive Neuroscience Society)
• National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (2015)

He has secured grants from the Department of Defense, National Institute of Mental Health, and private foundations. His lab collaborates with Andy Yonelinas on recognition memory and with others on field potentials in hippocampal studies. He teaches Human Learning, Cognitive Neuroimaging, and Current Research in Psychology.