Iliana Samara, M.Sc.

PhD student

2019 – present

After I obtained my BSc in Psychology from the University of Crete (2014), I moved to Leiden, the Netherlands, where I obtained my MSc in Applied Cognitive Psychology (2015), and research MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience (cum laude; 2017).

 

I currently work as a research assistant at the NWO VIDI project but will soon start my PhD trajectory. My focus is on the social aspect of sexual arousal in humans. In other words, do humans, like our evolutionary cousins, the bonobos, use sex as a means to create and strengthen interpersonal bonds? To examine this question, I employ behavioural and neurophysiological measurements, such as galvanic skin response and pupil dilation. I also aim to compare the role of sexual arousal in the formation of interpersonal bonds in an experimental comparative setting.