Maria Kozhevnikovs research investigates the neural mechanisms of visual cognition and how these mechanisms operate in complex, real-world environments. Her work addresses fundamental limitations of traditional laboratory-based approaches by integrating immersive virtual reality, multimodal neuroimaging, and field research in operational settings. A major focus of her research is the development of VR-based neurocognitive assessment tools to study spatial orientation, disorientation, and adaptive performance in high-demand contexts, including aviation and spaceflight. Her second research direction focuses on the states of heightened creativity and enhanced cognition, their elicitation through immersive technologies and mental practices such as visualization- and breathing-based protocols, and their modulation of visualspatial performance under demanding operational conditions. She is also interested in developing predictive models of visualspatial cognition that represent neural activity and vascular dynamics as a coupled process.

Maria received her PhD from Technion (Israel) jointly with UC Santa Barbara. She has held faculty positions at Rutgers and George Mason Universities and served as a Program Director for the Science of Learning Centers Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation. Her primary academic appointment is with the National University of Singapore.