About

Read Montague, Ph.D., is a Virginia Tech Carilion Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor and Director of the Center for Human Neuroscience Research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. His research focuses on computational neuroscience, specifically the connection between physical mechanisms in neural tissue and the computational functions they embody. His early theoretical work hypothesized that dopaminergic systems encode reward prediction error signals, similar to those used in artificial intelligence, and his lab employs theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches to address mental health and its derangement by disease and injury. Dr. Montague's work includes pioneering methods to measure sub-second fluctuations in dopamine and serotonin levels in the striatum of conscious human subjects. His research aims to decode the neurobiology of decision-making, learning, and valuation, and explores fundamental questions about free will and the origins of human values. His contributions have been supported by prominent institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and several foundations. He has also been involved in the MacArthur Foundation Network on Neuroscience and Law, with a particular interest in mental states.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Biology
• Cognitive psychology
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Self-other generalisation shapes social interaction and is disrupted in borderline personality disorder

  eLife · 2025-01-21 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task - the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether self-other information generalisation may explain interpersonal (in)stability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations, generating a new neutral prior to begin learning. Both groups steadily reduced their updating over time, with healthy participants showing increased sensitivity to update beliefs. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning learning. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning, how childhood adversity disrupts this through separation of internalised beliefs and makes clear predictions about the mechanisms of social information integration under uncertainty.

  PublisherDOI

• Self-other generalisation shapes social interaction and is disrupted in borderline personality disorder

  eLife · 2025-01-21 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task – the Intentions Game. We involved humans with ( n =50) and without ( n =53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain prior findings of disrupted social learning and instability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning, and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherDOI

• Self-Other Generalisation Shapes Social Interaction and Is Disrupted in Borderline Personality Disorder

  2025-04-10

  preprintOpen access

  Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task - the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain prior findings of disrupted social learning and instability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ) – Validation of the German version in a representative sample

  medRxiv · 2025-09-05 · 5 citations

  preprintOpen access

  ABSTRACT The construct of epistemic trust has garnered significant attention, both conceptually in relation to societal shifts in trust in communicated knowledge and social learning, and empirically in relation to psychopathology. Recently, the ETMCQ, a self-report tool, was developed to assess individual differences in epistemic stance (ES). This paper reports on the validation of a German version of the ETMCQ. Using a representative sample of 2,519 participants older than 16 years of age, the primary aim was to test the factorial validity of the instrument, while also examining associations with age, gender, and education level. A secondary aim explored associations between the three ETMCQ dimensions (trust, mistrust, and credulity) and retrospectively reported childhood maltreatment and other adversity, as well as other psychological factors, including psychopathology. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed three correlated but distinct factors—Trust, Mistrust, and Credulity—largely in line with the original validation, resulting in a 12-item version for the German adaptation. Our findings support previous theoretical links between epistemic stance and psychological functioning, particularly the association between epistemic disruption (high mistrust and/or credulity) and increased symptomatology. Additionally, both Mistrust and Credulity were linked to childhood maltreatment, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, and fearful attachment. Key results suggest associations between ETMCQ factors and developmental psychopathology constructs, with these factors partially mediating the relationship between early adversity and current mental health symptoms. In terms of discriminant validity, we provide ES cut-offs in relation to widely used psychopathology screening tools. Differences in ES were also observed between individuals from the former East and West Germany, as well as in relation to income, gender, and education, suggesting cultural and socio-economic influences on the construct. In light of these findings, the ETMCQ can be seen as a brief and easy-to-administer tool that holds promise for enhancing clinical and theoretical understanding of interpersonal knowledge transfer.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Self-Other Generalisation Shapes Social Interaction and Is Disrupted in Borderline Personality Disorder

  2025-02-10

  preprintOpen access

  Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task - the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain interpersonal (in)stability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations, generating a new neutral prior when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear causal predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherDOI

• Author response: Self-Other Generalisation Shapes Social Interaction and Is Disrupted in Borderline Personality Disorder

  2025-06-17

  peer-reviewOpen access

  Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task – the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain prior findings of disrupted social learning and instability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherDOI

• Author response: Self-Other Generalisation Shapes Social Interaction and Is Disrupted in Borderline Personality Disorder

  2025-04-22

  peer-reviewOpen access

  Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task – the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain interpersonal (in)stability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations, generating a new neutral prior when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear causal predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherDOI

• Self-Other Generalisation Shapes Social Interaction and Is Disrupted in Borderline Personality Disorder

  eLife · 2025-06-17

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task – the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain prior findings of disrupted social learning and instability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherDOI

• Emotional words evoke region- and valence-specific patterns of concurrent neuromodulator release in human thalamus and cortex

  Cell Reports · 2025-01-01 · 18 citations

  articleOpen access

  Words represent a uniquely human information channel-humans use words to express thoughts and feelings and to assign emotional valence to experience. Work from model organisms suggests that valence assignments are carried out in part by the neuromodulators dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. Here, we ask whether valence signaling by these neuromodulators extends to word semantics in humans by measuring sub-second neuromodulator dynamics in the thalamus (N = 13) and anterior cingulate cortex (N = 6) of individuals evaluating positive, negative, and neutrally valenced words. Our combined results suggest that valenced words modulate neuromodulator release in both the thalamus and cortex, but with region- and valence-specific response patterns, as well as hemispheric dependence for dopamine release in the anterior cingulate. Overall, these experiments provide evidence that neuromodulator-dependent valence signaling extends to word semantics in humans, but not in a simple one-valence-per-transmitter fashion.

  PublisherDOI

• Self-Other Generalisation Shapes Social Interaction and Is Disrupted in Borderline Personality Disorder

  eLife · 2025-04-22 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Generalising information from ourselves to others, and others to ourselves allows for both a dependable source of navigation and adaptability in interpersonal exchange. Disturbances to social development in sensitive periods can cause enduring and distressing damage to lasting healthy relationships. However, identifying the mechanisms of healthy exchange has been difficult. We introduce a theory of self-other generalisation tested with data from a three-phase social value orientation task – the Intentions Game. We involved individuals with (n=50) and without (n=53) a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and assessed whether infractions to self-other generalisation may explain interpersonal (in)stability. Healthy controls initially used their preferences to predict others and were influenced by their partners, leading to self-other convergence. In contrast, individuals with borderline personality disorder maintained distinct self-other representations, generating a new neutral prior when learning about others. This allowed for equal predictive performance compared to controls despite reduced updating sensitivity. Furthermore, we explored theory-driven individual differences underpinning contagion. Overall, the findings provide a clear explanation of how self-other generalisation constrains and assists learning and how childhood adversity is associated with separation of internalised beliefs. Our model makes clear causal predictions about the mechanisms of social information generalisation concerning both joint and individual reward.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant RC4AG039067

  NIH · $1.0M · 2013

• NIH Grant R01NS045790

  NIH · $1.3M · 2010

• Computational and electrochemical substrates of social decision-making in humans

  NIH · $5.1M · 2020–2026

• Next generation Magnetoencephalography for human social neuroscience

  NIH · $2.4M · 2020–2025

• Computational Substrates of Addiction and Reward

  NIH · $3.9M · 1998–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Terry Lohrenz

  246 shared

• Peter Fonagy

  University College London

  121 shared

• Tobias Nolte

  University College London

  121 shared

• Kenneth T. Kishida

  88 shared

• Peter Dayan

  Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

  83 shared

• Xiaosi Gu

  77 shared

• Brooks King‐Casas

  Virginia Tech

  62 shared

• Yi Luo

  New York University Shanghai

  58 shared

Labs

• Montague LabPI

Awards & honors

• William R. and Irene D. Miller Lectureship, Cold Spring Harb…
• Network Member, The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on…
• Walter Gilbert Award, Auburn University, 2011
• Welcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship, 2011-2018
• Kavli Fellow, U.S.-China Frontiers of Science, National Acad…