Ian Devonshire is Lecturer in Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London.

Ian Devonshire is a neuroscientist, author and science communicator. The first in his family to go to University, all it took was watching a TV show called ‘Brainspotting’ in his teens for Ian to become fascinated with the human and brain apply to one of the very first neuroscience degree courses offered in the UK, at the University of Sheffield. At Sheffield's Psychology Department he completed a PhD in neuroimaging in which he studied the many benefits of brain imaging techniques but also revealed some important limitations. 

He continued his lab-based in vivo research after he moved to the University of Oxford, but here his research interests broadened. Based at the Institute for the Future of the Mind, he became interested in how young people's intrinsic motivation to learn is a key factor for academic success. Ian studied pupils' attitudes to learning and whether we can use what we know about brain plasticity to change these attitudes. The relevance of this new style of research was being increasingly recognised at the time and Ian worked hard as co-ordinator of a Parliamentary Group in the House of Lords to bring different voices together, organising debates on applying scientific research in education. 

Whilst at Oxford, his policy and educational work was balanced by lab-based projects that investigated: the impact of environmental enrichment on brain structure and sensory function; visualising dynamic cerebral cortical activity using voltage-sensitive dye imaging; measuring how general anaesthesia influences global measures of brain function; and developing devices to monitor physiological parameters from animals while under anaesthesia in veterinary practice and scientific studies.  

Ian then moved to Nottingham to become a Research Fellow in the Arthritis Research UK Pain Centre where he explored the development and functional anatomy of brain areas involved in the perception of pain. He then held the position of Chief Scientific Officer in the University’s animal research facility, responsible for supporting and training in vivo research scientists. Here, he sat on the University's Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Board and was Chair of the committee for the Pre-Clinical Imaging Research Accelerator Fund; he also served as Chair of the Universities' Training Group, a national body responsible for setting the standards for Home Office personal license training courses.

After lecturing at the University of Exeter's Medical School, Ian joined King’s in 2026 to teach on the Psychology & Criminology programme. 

Research interests

• Functional brain imaging methods
• Sensorimotor neuroscience
• Neuronal plasticity
• Drug addiction
• Educational neuroscience

Teaching

Ian teaches on the Psychology & Criminology programme where he co-leads three psychology modules that relate closely with the scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour.

• Distorted Worlds: Variability in Memory and Perception - How reliable are our brains in accurately perceiving and recalling the world around us?
• Choices: Agency, Autonomy and Addiction - How do we make everyday decisions and to what extent are these choices made freely?
• Origins of Individual Differences - What makes each of us think and behave differently? To what extent are psychological traits hard-wired?

Expertise and public engagement

Ian is passionate about public engagement and regularly delivers events taking along a suitcase full of brains! To date he has delivered over a hundred talks, seminars and workshops on various topics in neuroscience to schoolchildren and the general public.

He has co-authored two books about neuroscience for school teachers: The Learning and the Brain Pocketbook (2011, Teachers Pocketbooks), which was nominated for two awards at the Education Resource Awards 2012, and Neuroscience for Teachers (2017, Crown House).

Building on his extensive experience delivering science events to schools and the public, Ian co-developed 'BrainLab', a new model for training undergraduate students in science communication.

BrainLab not only provided greater reach for University widening participation teams, but also the performance of original pedagogical research and authorship for students (e.g. Devonshire et al., 2014, PLoS One). Full details can be found in the original article (Devonshire & Hathway, 2014, PLoS Biology).