Dr. Ioanna Zioga is a postdoctoral researcher supported by a Bodossaki Foundation Postdoctoral Scholarship. She received her PhD from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), where she investigated the link between learning and creativity using behavioral, EEG, and computational methods. Following her doctoral work, she continued her research at QMUL on two-person brain synchronization and subsequently led a four-year postdoctoral project at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging in the Netherlands, where she used MEG to study brain oscillatory dynamics during language comprehension and production. As she transitions to an independent research leader, Dr. Zioga is establishing a new research hub in Greece focused on the neurocognitive mechanisms of musical creativity and performer-listener interaction. This work will be further advanced through her upcoming Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Dr. Zioga’s research examines the neurocognitive mechanisms of creative thinking, focusing on how the brain generates novel ideas beyond well-established associations. She combines electrophysiological methods (EEG/MEG) with computational approaches, showing that alpha and beta brain oscillations support key domain-general processes, such as inhibitory control and the reactivation of representations, respectively. A central focus of her work is creative intention, namely how explicit instructions to “be creative” influence performance. Her findings show that such goal-directed states alter patterns of brain activity and interhemispheric communication, facilitating access to more remote and less typical ideas. Beyond controlled laboratory tasks, Dr. Zioga studies creativity in more naturalistic settings, including language production and musical improvisation. Her research in music has identified a “sweet spot” for creativity, where intermediate levels of grammatical structure lead to the most creative output. She has also shown that sensitivity to statistical regularities during learning predicts later creative performance. Her ongoing work explores how creative intention shapes the alignment between performer and listener in live music settings, highlighting creativity as a mechanism for transforming musical information into a shared emotional experience.