Professor Zoe Kourtzi
Zoe Kourtzi is Professor of Experimental Psychology at the Department of Psychology and a Principal Investigator in the Adaptive Brain Lab. Before moving to Cambridge in 2013, Zoe was Chair in Brain Imaging at Birmingham University, a position which she had held since 2005. Zoe has extensive research experience, which was built up across a range of elite institutions, including Rutgers University, Harvard University, MIT, and the Max Planck Institute. She has also worked as a scientist in industry.
Having completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Crete, Zoe moved to the United States, where she undertook a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at Rutgers University. This was in the early ninghties, when the new developments in human magnetic resonance imaging revolutionarised the field of cognitive psychology. Zoe was fascinated by the new filed of cognitive neuroscience and moved to Boston and then Tuebingen, Germany to learn about cutting-edge techniques in brain imaging.
Through her research, Zoe seeks to understand the links between brain structure, neural function and behaviour. Her work focuses on the role of learning and experience in enabling humans of all ages to translate sensory experience into adaptive behaviours. Her work combines multimodal brain imaging techniques such as structural and functional MRI, EEG, and MEG, established behavioural paradigms from cognitive psychology, and mathematical algorithms.
The awards Zoe has received in recognition of her outstanding work include:
Vision Science Society Young Investigator Award, May 2007
Attempto-Preis, University of Tuebingen, May 2003
Best Dissertation Award, New Jersey Psychological Association, 1998
Rutgers University Excellence Doctoral Fellowship in Psychology, 1994-1998
Zoe is on the editorial board of the Journal of Vision, and she is an associate editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology, and Frontiers. She has served on numerous committees, including the Vision Sciences Society Board of Directors (2008-2012), and the BBSRC Animal Sciences Committee (Review Panel Member from 2008).
The journals in which Zoe has published her research findings include Current Biology, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron and Science. She has also contributed a number of chapters to edited book collections.
Read More
Zoe's profile on the Department website
Lifelong learning and the plastic brain (Research Horizons)
