Iro Ntonia

PhD student

Department of Psychology

Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit

E: iro.ntonia.1@city.ac.uk

Thesis title: Modulation of lateralised responses to primary affect.

Supervisor: Dr Elliot Freeman

Overview and research interests

Iro's doctoral research explores the neurological pathways underlying primary emotional processing and visual attention. Prevalent themes in her research include the pre-attentive processing of threat; speed-accuracy trade off as a function of anxiety in the perception of primary emotions; approach/avoidance responses to perceived threat; and the exploration of individual differences in amygdala volume as a marker of differential and lateralised responses to emotional stimuli. 

Iro's thesis posits a modulation of lateralised response patterns to positive and negative affect by timing, individual differences, nasal/temporal display of emotional stimuli, and auditory threat.

Research interests

• Neuroscience of primary affect
• Pre-attentive perception of threat
• Cortical and subcortical processing pathways for primary emotion
• Cerebral lateralisation of affect
• Automatic responses to near-threshold threat-related stimuli

Iro has a DipRes in Psychology Research (Oxford Brookes University), an MSc (Merit) in Cognitive Neuroscience (Oxford Brookes University) and a BSc (Hons) in Neuropsychology (University of Central Lancashire).

Publications

• Ntonia, I., Savva, G., Joseph, L. & Freeman, E.D. (2013). Lateralised responses to angry and fearful faces are modulated by gaze direction and auditory threat. British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience Annual Meeting (Book of Abstracts).
• Ntonia, I. & Freeman, E.D. (2012). State Anxiety and Subliminal Threat. British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience Annual Meeting (Book of Abstracts).
• Ntonia, I. & Ntonias, S. (2006). Differential Hemispheric Activation in Emotional Responses: Evidence by Conjugate Lateral Eye Movements. Annals of General Psychiatry 5 (suppl. 1): S303
• Ntonia, I. & Ntonias, S (2006). Hemispheric Lateralisation of Affect: Relationship to Handedness and Schizotypy. The 2nd Dual Congress on Psychiatry and the Neurosciences (Book of Abstracts): p.70.

Awards and grants

• April 2013: British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience Bursary (£200)

Teaching

• Module leader for Research design & statistics.
• SPSS clinics for Doctoral, DPsych, MSc and 3rd year Undergraduate students.
• Research methods in Psychology
• Research design & analysis (laboratory methods)

Iro has also been a Visiting Lecturer at London Southbank University.