Intrusive memories of trauma, Flash backs, PTSD, Psychotic disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar, and anxiety and depression 

I am currently working on my psychology PhD research project on intrusive memories of trauma under the supervision of Dr Marco Sandrini (DoS) and Giorgio Fuggetta (CoS). There are also three external collaborators: Dr Noa Herz, Dr Alex Lau-Zhu and Professor Emily Holmes who involve the project. Intrusive memories of trauma are core features of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as a number of other mental health disorder (depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders etc.).

My PhD research project is made of 4 sessions. Session 1: participants will perform a resting-state Electroencephalogram (EEG) and a working memory capacity task, in addition to some questionnaires. Session 2: participants will view the trauma film, then they will take a visual recognition memory test to assess the memory of the events and will be asked to record intrusive memories about the trauma film in a digitised diary every day until day 7. Session 3: rTMS will be delivered to the cortical area involved in the formation of intrusive memories after a brief memory reactivation. Session 4: participants will attend a final meeting in which they will be requested to do a visual recognition memory test. Sessions 2 to 4 will be conducted over a week period and maximum of 5 hours experimental participation will be required from participants for all the sessions. We are hoping that this research will shed light on the brain mechanisms of this novel intervention that has the potential to be applied in patients with PTSD and other mental disorders.

Currently I am also working with Professor Cecilia Essau and her research team on number of projects under the title of Supporting Young people’s Mental Health in Schools: Teacher Perceptions of Needs and Barriers (an Qualtrics questionary and face to face interviews). I have several responsibilities as a research assistant: writing ethic applications, setting up Qualtrics questionary, promoting seminar series, recruiting schools and teachers for the study, and helping with data analysis. In addition, with Professor Cecilia Essau and Trudy Au, we are writing a book chapter tentatively titled as “Co-Occurring Anxiety Disorders” for the American Psychiatric Association (APA)’s Handbook of Depression. 

Previously, I worked in a number of research projects. My undergraduate project was with my current Directory of Studies (DoS)  Dr Marco Sandrini; ''Investigating the causal role of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in episodic memory retrieval using transcranial direct currant stimulation''. My master thesis was under supervision of Dr Simon Dyall: ''Investigating the effects of a high fish oil DHA multinutrient supplementation on the outcome measures of omega-3 PUFAs DHA and EPA and EPA:AA ratios’ predictability and improvement of the cognitive functions and health related emotional well-being scores in healthy older women''.

I am a British citizen from Turkey, and I have been living in London since 2001. I have a first-class honours degree in BSc Psychology and Counselling and distinction in MSc Clinical Neuroscience master’s degree from University of Roehampton. Currently I am a research student doing my Psychology PhD on the intrusive memories of trauma.

I have been working for Huntercombe Psychiatric Hospital-Roehampton since March 2020 as a healthcare support worker with patience group mainly suffering from psychosis. Also, in mental health care charitable setting, I worked with people with a number of mental presentations ranging from suicidal ideation, self-harm to depression and anxiety, in befriending and volunteered counsellor roles since 2019.

University of Roehampton -Psychology PhD  Sep 2021 to Present

Research topic: Intrusive Memories of Trauma, PTSD

University of Roehampton – Distinction in MSc Clinical Neuroscience 2021

Recognised by the Federation of Neuroscience Societies (FENS)

University of Roehampton - BSc First-Class (Hons) Degree 2020          

BPS accredited BSc Psychology and Counselling degree              

South Thames College - CELTA  2007

Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

The British Psychological Society active member 

The Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) (MNum.: 531608)

Effects of transcranial electrical stimulation on episodic memory in physiological and pathological ageing

Marco Sandrini , Rosa Manenti , Hakan Sahin , Maria Cotelli : PMID: 32275953, DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2020.101065