UBC’s Department of Psychology welcomes Milan Valyear.
Dr. Milan Valyear, a new assistant professor in the behavioural neuroscience area, joined the department in January 2026. He is also a member of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health,
Dr. Valyear’s research examines the brain processes that reinforce and disengage behaviour. By studying how these systems work, he explores why some behaviours become difficult to regulate, with the goal of informing new approaches to understanding and treating addictions.
Originally from Ontario, Dr. Valyear lived for many years in Montréal before joining the University of British Columbia. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, exploring Vancouver’s coffee and music scenes, and spending time in the city’s parks and nearby mountains.
Dr. Valyear joins us for a Q&A, where he shares what led him to pursue neuroscience, his research interests, and his new adventures in Vancouver.
First of all, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in a small town an hour or so north of Toronto, then moved around a bit. Montréal is where I spent the most time and discovered myself. I got into refurbishing old espresso machines, riding and fixing old bikes, and hunting down obscure recordings of live music. Now living in Vancouver, these interests have taken on a new feel. The coffee is outstanding, the weather is a lot friendlier to old bikes, and the music scene is superb. A colleague has promised to share their personal recording of a concert that occurred fifty years ago in Vancouver. I am thrilled, and incredibly fortunate, to join the Department of Psychology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at UBC.
“I am thrilled, and incredibly fortunate, to join the Department of Psychology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at UBC.”
What kinds of questions do you try to answer through your research?
There are two main thrusts to my research: reinforcement and disengagement.
Imagine the buzz of a coffee grinder, espresso gushing into a warm mug, and steam whirling milk into a smooth foam. The irresistible pull towards a cappuccino arises because consuming a cappuccino reinforces approach – this is a Pavlovian learning process. Once consumption begins, a different set of processes take over. If the cappuccino is too hot, one might enjoy brief sips, readily disengaging their consummatory behaviour; if the urge to consume is so intense, long bouts of drinking may occur. My lab focuses on the brain processes that serve to reinforce and disengage behaviour. Our hope is that understanding these processes will allow us to normalize behaviours that are rendered pathological because they are disproportionately reinforced or ineffectively disengaged.
“My lab focuses on the brain processes that serve to reinforce and disengage behaviour. Our hope is that understanding these processes will allow us to normalize behaviours that are rendered pathological because they are disproportionately reinforced or ineffectively disengaged.”
How did you become interested in this line of research?
When I was an undergraduate student, I did a very simple experiment. Two groups of rats received a sugar solution for 24 hr every day or every third day. Despite having unrestricted access to regular food and water, at the end of the third day, the group of rats that had only received access to sugar solution once before drank nearly their bodyweight in sugar solution. I remember entering the animal housing room and looking at the bottles on all the cages imagining their fill lines as bar graphs. I was amazed that such a simple manipulation could produce such a clear change in behaviour and tell us something so interesting about the brain.
Can you tell us about any new research that you are particularly excited about?
It is psychology tradition to give animals small food reinforcers such that they learn to anticipate those reinforcers when a cue is played (Pavlovian) or perform actions to earn those reinforcers (operant). Much more is known about the brain processes underlying the elicitation of Pavlovian and operant behaviour than those which determine the form and duration of this behaviour. My hope is that by discovering brain processes that subserve the disengagement of behaviour we will better be able to treat psychopathologies like alcohol use and binge eating disorder. For example, Pavlovian cues may trigger an episode of drinking alcohol or binge eating which are characterized by long bouts of consumption – by shortening these bouts, even after they have begun, we may prevent a single episode from triggering a cascade of pathological behaviour.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Lately, I have enjoyed walking through Pacific Spirit Park, which is so accessible from the UBC campus, and snowshoeing through cypress mountain. The food scene in Vancouver is stellar, making it easy to grab a bite with new friends. I am eager to see the Canucks and Whitecaps play. All these new adventures are exciting, but of course I still like to drink coffee, ride bicycles, and listen to music.
Join us in welcoming Milan to UBC!
