Mingbo Cai

Mingbo Cai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami. His research focuses on the intersection of human cognition and machine intelligence, leveraging computational models and experiments to study learning, decision making, and spontaneous thoughts. He develops tools like the Brain Imaging Analysis Kit (BrainIAK) to advance neuroimaging research. Key interests include reinforcement learning, Bayesian inference, and computational psychiatry.

His lab explores how the brain constructs cognitive maps and processes spatial navigation through fMRI studies, emphasizing the role of predictive learning principles. Recent work includes studies on 3D object perception, unsupervised learning inspired by infant cognition, and decoding spontaneous thoughts via neuroimaging. Cai has published extensively on neural representation analysis, fMRI simulation, and transfer learning, with contributions to both theoretical neuroscience and practical machine learning applications.

Current opportunities include PhD admissions (fall 2025) and a postdoc position focusing on fMRI studies of spontaneous thoughts. Collaborations leverage interdisciplinary approaches to bridge cognitive models with AI advancements, aiming to understand how neural systems achieve adaptive behavior through structured computations.