chkhaidze

About me

I am a cognitive scientist and lecturer at the Free University of Tbilisi, currently based in Berlin. I recently completed my PhD in Cognitive Science at UC San Diego, where I worked with Lera Boroditsky, Anastasia Kiyonaga, and Seana Coulson. I am originally from Georgia—the country.

Research

I study individual differences in the formats of mental representations. People differ greatly in how they experience their thoughts: some think in vivid mental images, others rely more strongly on words, and some experience little or no visual imagery. Yet many theories of cognition assume that everyone has access to the same kinds of internal representations. Studying this diversity offers a way to understand how different underlying representational strategies may support cognition.

My work spans working memory, language, and perception. Across these domains, I combine behavioral experiments, EEG/ERP, and computational methods to examine how differences in representational formats are reflected in cognitive behavior and brain activity.

News

2026/10 Will present the poster From Dots to Faces: Individual Differences in Visual Imagery Capacity Predict the Content of Ganzflicker-Induced Hallucinations at MIABRIDGE: Mental Imagery and Aphantasia—Bridging Philosophy and Neuroscience in Paris, France.
2026/09 Will give the talk Visual and Verbal Thought Tendencies Shape Working Memory under Distraction at IRCA: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Aphantasia at the University of Glasgow, UK.
2026/05 Defended my PhD dissertation, Individual Differences in the Format of Mental Representations and Their Cognitive Consequences, at UC San Diego.
2026/03 Started as a lecturer at the Free University of Tbilisi.
2025/07 Presented the talk Visual Imagery Vividness Predicts the Complexity of Induced Hallucinations at the 47th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
2024/10 Presented at The Embodied and Situated Language Processing Conference
2024/06 Presented at The 18th European Workshop on Imagery and Cognition
2023/07 Presented at The Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society
2022/07 Presented at Multidisciplinary Approaches to Migration and Multilingualism
2022/10 Presented at The Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society
2022/06 Received The Kavli Foundation Grant for What Our Thoughts Are Made Of? (The role: PI, amount: $50,000)
2021/07 Presented at The Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society
2021/06 Presented at Approaches to Migration, Language and Identity
2020/10 Gave a talk at STEM-talks (in Georgian)
2020/10 Organized science symposium STEM-talks; 19 speakers from 6 different countries, ~100 participants
2020/09 Started teaching at Ilia State University
2020/09 Cofounded ISGS – International Society of Georgian Scientists, aiming to popularize science in Georgia
2020/04 Gave a guest lecture at the Free University of Tbilisi
2020/03 Gave a talk and presented a poster at CNS; Virtual Meeting
2020/03 Grant proposal rejected by UC-CARE fellowship
2020/03 Admitted as an instructor to Clubes de Ciencia; Ensenada, Mexico (CANCELED because of COVID-19)
2020/03 Will be giving a talk and presenting a poster at CNS; Boston, USA (CANCELED because of COVID-19)
2020/02 Was featured in Forbes Georgia 30 Under 30 in Science and Medicine category
2019/09 Wrote an article about language and human behavior for Marketer (in Georgian)
2019/08 Presented a poster poster at ECVP; Brussels, Belgium
2019/06 Gave a talk at BRAINstorming; Tbilisi, Georgia
2019/05 Gave an interview to Forbes Woman Georgia about the interaction between language and human mind

Publications

Individual differences in visual imagery vividness predict neural responses to language-induced visual expectations (preprint)
Ana Chkhaidze, et al. (2026)

From dots to faces: individual differences in visual imagery capacity predict the content of Ganzflicker-induced hallucinations (Neuroscience of Consciousness)
Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2026)

Visual and verbal thought tendencies shape working memory under distraction (preprint)
Ana Chkhaidze, et al. (2026)

Global PIQA: Evaluating Commonsense Reasoning Across 100+ Languages and Cultures (preprint)
Tyler A. Chang, ..., Ana Chkhaidze, et al. (2025)

How “diagnostic” criteria interact to shape synesthetic behavior: the role of self-report and test-retest consistency in synesthesia research (Consciousness and Cognition)
Nicholas Root, Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2025)

Visual Imagery Vividness Predicts the Complexity of Induced Hallucinations (Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society)
Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2025)

Individual Differences in Preferred Thought Formats Predict Features of Narrative Recall (Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society)
Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2023)

Language-induced categorical perception of faces? (Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society)
Ana Chkhaidze and Lars Strother (2022)

Linguistic metaphors shape attitudes towards immigration (Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society)
Ana Chkhaidze, Parla Buyruk, Lera Boroditsky (2021)

Potassium current deficit in reticular thalamic cells causes epilepsy in SCN1A-deficient Dravet syndrome (Cell Reports)
Stefanie Makinson, ..., Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2019)

Catching up with wonderful women: The Women-are-wonderful effect is smaller in more gender egalitarian societies (International Journal of Psychology)
Kuba Krys, ..., Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2017)

Be careful where you smile: Culture shapes judgements of intelligence and honesty of smiling individuals (Journal of Nonverbal Behavior)
Kuba Krys, ..., Ana Chkhaidze et al. (2016)

Conferences & Talks

Visual imagery vividness predicts degree of embodied simulation during language comprehension. (Talk) The Embodied and Situated Language Processing Conference, Berlin, Germany (2024)

Visualizing the invisible: Visual imagery shapes pseudo-hallucinatory experiences. (Poster) The 18th European Workshop on Imagery and Cognition, Naples, Italy (2024)

Individual differences in preferred thought formats predict features of narrative recall. (Poster) The 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Sydney, Australia (2023)

Linguistic metaphors shape attitudes towards immigration. (Talk) Multidisciplinary Approaches to Migration and Multilingualism, Nicosia, Cyprus (2022)

Language induced categorical perception of faces? (Poster) The 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Toronto, Canada (2022)

Linguistic metaphors shape attitudes towards immigration. (Poster) The 44th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (Virtual) (2021)

The battle of the hemispheres: opposite lateralization patterns for face recognition and gender processing. (Talk) Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting (Virtual) (2020)

Categorical perception of face identity and gender. (Poster) Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting (Virtual) (2020)

Categorical perception of faces and cerebral laterality. (Poster) The European Conference on Visual Perception, Leuven, Belgium. (2019)

A divided visual field approach to the categorical perception of faces. (Talk) BRAINstorming, Tbilisi, Georgia (2019)

Face recognition, linguistic categorization, and laterality. (Poster) Neuroscience Symposium at UNR, Reno, NV (2019)

The Role of Thalamus in Dravet Syndrome. (Talk) BRAINstorming, Tbilisi, Georgia (2017)

Are schizophrenia patients worse performers of dual-tasking? Insights from motor timing. (Poster) The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress, Amsterdam, Netherlands. (2015)

Teaching

Free University of Tbilisi
Introduction to Cognitive Science (Spring 2026)
Neurobiological Foundations of Cognition (Spring 2026)
Neuroscience (Fall 2017)

UCSD
COGS 1. Intro to Cognitive Science (Winter 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024)
COGS 14A. Introduction to Research Methods (Winter 2021, Summer 2021, Summer 2024, Fall 2024)
COGS 14B. Introduction to Statistical Analysis (Summer 2020)
COGS 102A. Cognitive Perspectives (Summer 2020)
COGS 11. Minds and Brains (Spring 2020, Winter 2022, Spring 2024, Summer 2024, Summer 2025)

Ilia State University
Cognitive Science (Fall 2020, Spring 2022)
Language, Culture, and Cognition (Fall 2020)

University of Nevada, Reno
PSY 210. Statistical Methods (Spring 2018)
PSY 301. Experimental Psychology (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)