Research
Center for Applied Neuroscience (CAN)
The Center for Applied Neuroscience (CAN) was established in 2010 and it is the only Center of its kind in Cyprus. This major infrastructure project is funded through the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation (on the basis of European and National funding) and co-funded by the University of Cyprus.
The aim of the CAN is to study human normal and abnormal behavior and mental processes with procedures, methods, and theoretical approaches that are informed by contemporary neuroscience and biological perspectives of behavior. CAN’s purpose is to develop a cutting-edge research agenda in the applied neuroscience and neurobehavioral research in Cyprus and internationally.
The CAN’s mission in terms of community service focuses on providing resources and opportunities that foster critical and creative thinking through research, education, training, consulting, and program development for schools, hospitals, and other organizations in Cyprus.
CAN has developed partnerships with people both in Cyprus and abroad, specializing in the fields of Psychology, Electrical Engineering, Information Systems and Statistics, and with organizations who can offer in specialist areas, such as the Institute of Neurology and Genetics and the American Heart Institute.
CAN’s research interests focus on people with neurological disorders, learning or developmental disorders, emotional reactions of children (such as aggressive behavior, social isolation, functional social behavior), and with evaluation of behavior and psychopathology in children.
Students interested in participating in research can contact at 22 89 2080 with Despina Themistocleous or at dthemi01@ucy.ac.cy.
For more information visit the CAN’s website http://can.ucy.ac.cy/.
Neurocognitive Research Lab (Updated July 2008)
The Neurocognitive Research Lab, directed by Fofi Constantinidou is housed in the Department of Psychology at the new wing of the central campus. The lab is part of a newly designed laboratory suite that houses the Neuro Cognitive Research Laboratory, the Epxerimental Psychology Laboratory, the Psychophysiology Laboratory, and the Social Psychology Laboratory. The lab consists of one large room with an oneway observation window and is equipped with current neuropsychological/cognitive tests, research protocols and materials required for the ongoing projects, as well as networked computers. There is an adjacent observation room (shared with the Psychobiology Laboratory) used for data recording and observation.
Currently the following research projects are being conducted in collaboration with local research centers such as the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics and international organizations including Miami University (USA), the Centre for Neuro Skills (USA), and Special Tree Rehabilitation Center (USA):
1. The Effectiveness of a systematic categorization program in patients with traumatic brain injury: Clinical trials.
2. Effects of native language, age, and education on cognitive performance.
3. The effects of neurological disease on memory abilities.
Several undergraduate and graduate students participate in research projects each year via independent studies, undergraduate and master’s theses, and doctoral research. Students interested in participating in research at the lab should contact Dr. Constantinidou at 22 89 2078 or at
fofic@ucy.ac.cy . For more information go to
http://www.ucy.ac.cy/goto/neurocognitive/en-US/HOME.aspx
Epxerimental Psychology Laboratory
The Experimental Psychology Lab (EPL) is directed by Marios Avraamides and has been established with funding from the European Research Council. The EPL employs several scientists at various points in their careers including postdoctoral scientists, graduate and undergraduate research assistants, and other students interested in conducting research in topics relating to spatial cognition, attention, and perception. The personnel of the EPL conduct their research using a variety of tools including personal computers and Virtual Reality (VR) technology. For more information about the research conducted in the lab as well as its current members you may visit its home on the web at:
http://experimentalpsych.com
Social Psychology Laboratory
Social Psychology is the science that attempts to understand how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals are constructed in relation to other people and groups, and as such requires the study of processes of communication, social influence as well as the processes of construction, distribution and change of social knowledge and thought. The laboratory of Social Psychology is essential for the sufficient training of students in the main methods of Social Psychology (experimentation, observation, questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions) but also the production of local social-psychological research. The main infrastructure of the laboratory consist of a call centre, observation equipment and 10 PCs.
The objectives of laboratory are:
- The analysis of the mechanisms of change of social knowledge at different levels of analysis (intra-individual, interindividual, intergroup/ positional and the ideological/social representational).
- The study of small group dynamics, collaboration and competition.
- The study of the micogenesis, ontogenesis and sociogenesis of social representations.
- The study of learning and cognitive development as a social-psychological process.
Clinical Psychology & Psychophysiology Lab
The Clinical Psychology & Psychophysiology Lab, directed by Georgia Panayiotou and George Spanoudis, is located at the new wing of the central campus. The lab consists of one large room with an oneway observation window and is equipped with the BIOPAC system for psychophysiological recording, as well as networked computers. The lab is also equipped with a high-density EEG/ERP recording system (an unshielded 128-channel BIOSEMI Active-Two) for data acquisition with typical and atypical populations, and the latest software in modeling source generators. Theanalysis software packages used for processing EEG/ERP data are BESA, EEGlab, and Matlab routines; Stimuli are presented to the participants through the Presentation or E-prime software. This equipment is used to study behavioural measures (response times, error rates), and psychophysiological markers (ERPs). Other physiological measures that we use routinely in our research include electrodermal and cardiovascular acivity, facial muscle (EMG) response, and startle reflex. There is an adjacent observation and control room (shared with the Neurocognitive Research Lab) used for data recording and observation. The lab is primarily focused on investigating individual differences that underlie clinical symptoms and behavior, primarily through examination of psychophysiological indicators. Currently, the following research projects are being conducted, with funding by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation:
1. Psychosocial parameters predicting involvement in serious traffic accidents and suggestions for prevention
2. Cognitive and physiological reactions in Anxiety Disorders
3. Epidemiology, consequences, and related factors of Anxiety Disorders in Cyprus
4. Desire to smoke during stressful cognitive tasks
5. Basic emotion psychophysiology
6. Psychophysiological correlates of the developing intelligence.
7. The psychophysiological underpinnings of specific language impairment
8. Brain Computer interfaces for neuropsychological rehabilitation.
9. The effects of humor on memory: A psychophysiological investigation
Several undergraduates and graduate students participate in research projects each year via independent studies, undergraduate and master’s theses, and doctoral research. Students interested in participating in research at the lab should contact Dr. Panayiotou at 22892081 or Dr. Spanoudis at georgiap@ucy.ac.cy or
spanoud@ucy.ac.cy, respectively.