Theodoros Karapanagiotidis

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex. My research investigates how large-scale brain dynamics support ongoing thought, with a focus on functional brain hierarchy, neural information flow, attractor states and trait–state interactions. I am particularly interested in how these mechanisms relate to everyday experience, learning and dispositional traits, and in their relevance for mental health.

My lab combines multimodal neuroimaging (structural, functional and diffusion MRI, and E/MEG) with behavioural testing, daily-life experience sampling and computational modelling. We use both static and dynamic analysis approaches, including machine learning, to characterise how patterns of brain activity unfold over time and shape conscious experience.

At Sussex, I co-lead the Kapoerio Lab with Dr Giulia Poerio, working with placement students, PhD students and early-career researchers to advance theoretical and empirical models of brain–behaviour relationships, with a particular focus on the stability and flexibility of cognitive states across time and context. I also supervise undergraduate and MSc projects, and convene and teach modules in programming and cognitive neuroscience at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Originally from Veria, Greece, I studied physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki before moving to the UK for an MSc in cognitive neuroscience at the University of York. I then worked as a research assistant in Prof. Jonathan Smallwood’s lab before completing a PhD under the joint supervision of Prof. Smallwood and Prof. Elizabeth Jefferies. During my PhD, I also contributed to a pilot neuroimaging study on immersive experiences led by Prof. Alex Wade. I went on to hold two postdoctoral positions — one in Prof. Smallwood’s lab, and one on a collaborative neuroimaging project funded by the York–Maastricht Partnership, working with colleagues at YNiC and M-BIC — before joining the University of Sussex.