Dr Eda Mizrak
BSc, MSc, PhD
Lecturer in Psychology
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Research
human memory, cognition, computational modelling, cognitive neuroscience
Interests
I am a memory researcher, and my research investigates two fundamental aspects of human memory—working memory and long-term memory (LTM)—using multiple research methods. Understanding how humans make and retain memories over the short and long term helps us analyze other cognitive functions such as how we learn or make decisions. I use a diverse methodological toolkit, including behavioural experiments, computational modeling, and cognitive neuroscience.
My current research program seeks to uncover what factors help and expands the limits of WM and how individuals differ in benefiting from these factors. My previous research showed that people can preserve more information in their WM when a) they give a pause (i.e., free time) during encoding new information in WM, b) the information consists of familiar chunks (e.g., a well-known number sequence such as 911 in a phone number). My current research focuses on examining the underlying mechanisms of these two benefits further using neuroscientific methods and cognitive modeling. My future research aims to examine individual differences in the observed benefits.
Publications

Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Brain and Behaviour
2025
What makes a birdbrain tick: Long-term memory drives expertise effects on working memory binding.Loaiza VM Senziani K Bartsch LM Mizrak E
Psychol Aging 15-12-2025
Is Working Memory a Gateway to Long-Term Memory?Bartsch LM Souza AS Mizrak E Oberauer K
Journal of Experimental Psychology General,
American Psychological Association (Apa) vol. 154 (12), 3531-3551.
01-12-2025
Free Time Benefits Working Memory and Long-Term Memory DifferentlyMızrak E Souza AS Oberauer K
Journal of Experimental Psychology General,
American Psychological Association (Apa) 13-11-20252024
The information exchange between working memory and long-term memory.Bartsch LM Fukuda K Loaiza VM
Mem Cognit 18-11-20242022
Verbal working memory encodes phonological and semantic information differentlyKowialiewski B Krasnoff J Mizrak E
Cognition,
Elsevier vol. 233
28-12-2022
The semantic relatedness effect in serial recall: Deconfounding encoding and recall orderKowialiewski B Krasnoff J Mizrak E
Journal of Memory and Language,
Elsevier vol. 127, 104377-104377.
22-09-2022
Working Memory Recruits Long-Term Memory When It Is Beneficial: Evidence From the Hebb EffectMızrak E
Journal of Experimental Psychology General,
American Psychological Association (Apa) vol. 151 (4), 763-780.
01-04-2022
Verbal Working Memory Encodes Phonological and Semantic Information DifferentlyKowialiewski B Krasnoff J Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Ssrn Electronic Journal 01-01-20222021
The hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex jointly represent task structure during memory-guided decision makingMızrak E Bouffard NR Libby LA
Cell Reports,
Elsevier vol. 37 (9)
01-11-2021
What Is Time Good for in Working Memory?Mızrak E Oberauer K
Psychological Science,
Sage Publications vol. 32 (8), 1325-1337.
26-07-2021
Intrinsic connectivity reveals functionally distinct cortico-hippocampal networks in the human brainBarnett AJ Reilly W Mizrak E Reagh Z
Plos Biology,
Public Library of Science (Plos) vol. 19 (6)
02-06-20212019
Assessing Theoretical Conclusions With Blinded Inference to Investigate a Potential Inference CrisisStarns JJ Cataldo AM Rotello CM Annis J Aschenbrenner A Bröder A Cox G Criss A et al.
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science,
Sage Publications vol. 2 (4), 335-349.
17-09-2019
Representation of Task Structure in Human HippocampusMizrak E Bouffard N Libby LA Boorman E Ranganath C
In
Ssrn Electronic Journal 01-01-20192018
Prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances behavioral and EEG markers of proactive controlBoudewyn M Roberts BM Mizrak E Ranganath C
Cognitive Neuroscience,
Taylor & Francis vol. 10 (2), 57-65.
03-12-2018
Impact of oscillatory tDCS targeting left prefrontal cortex on source memory retrievalMizrak E Kim K Carter C
Cognitive Neuroscience,
Taylor & Francis vol. 9 (3-4), 194-207.
05-09-20182017
Forgetting emotional material in working memoryMızrak E Singmann H
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience,
Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 13 (3), 331-340.
20-12-2017
A New Representation of fMRI Signal by a Set of Local Meshes for Brain DecodingOnal I Ozay M Mizrak E
IEEE Transactions on Signal and Information Processing Over Networks,
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) vol. 3 (4), 683-694.
08-03-20172016
Decoding Cognitive States Using the Bag of Words Model on FMRI Time SeriesSucu G Akbaş E Öztekin İ Mizrak E Vural FY
2016 24th Signal Processing and Communication Application Conference (SIU)., 2245-2248.
01-05-2016
A Robust Normalization Method for fMRI Data for Brain DecodingYildiz O Dogan FI Oztekint I Mizrak E Vural FTY
2016 24th Signal Processing and Communication Application Conference (SIU)., 2269-2272.
01-05-2016
Working memory capacity and controlled serial memory searchMızrak E Öztekin I
Cognition,
Elsevier vol. 153, 52-62.
29-04-2016
Modeling the Sequence of Brain Volumes by Local Mesh Models for Brain DecodingOnal I Ozay M Mizrak E Oztekin I Vural FTY
In
Arxiv 03-03-2016
Relationship Between Emotion and ForgettingMızrak E Öztekin I
Emotion,
American Psychological Association (Apa) vol. 16 (1), 33-42.
01-01-2016
Familiarity enhances working memory by reducing interference, not by freeing capacityMizrak E Manohar SG
In
Psyarxiv
Is Working Memory a Gateway to Long-Term Memory?Bartsch LM Souza AS Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
What Makes a Birdbrain Tick: Long-term Memory Drives Expertise Effects on Working Memory BindingLoaiza VM Senziani K Bartsch LM Mizrak E
In
Psyarxiv
Interactions of Working and Long-term Memory – Evidence from Proactive Interference in the Brown-Peterson TaskBartsch LM Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
Free Time Benefits Working Memory and Long-Term Memory differentlyMizrak E Souza AS Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
How Does Free Time Benefit Working Memory in Complex Span Tasks?Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
The Information Exchange between Working Memory and Long-term MemoryBartsch L Fukuda K Loaiza VM Mizrak E
In
Psyarxiv
Contralateral delay activity as a marker of visual working memory capacity: a multi-site registered replicationStrzelczyk D Clayson PE Sigurdardottir HM Mushtaq F Pavlov YG Devillez H Lukashevich A Rocha HA et al.
In
Psyarxiv
Verbal Working Memory Encodes Phonological and Semantic Information DifferentlyKowialiewski B Krasnoff J Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
The Semantic Relatedness Effect in Serial Recall: Deconfounding Encoding and Recall OrderKowialiewski B Krasnoff J Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
What is time good for in working memory?Mizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
Organization of cortico-hippocampal networks in the human brainBarnett AJ Reilly W Dimsdale-Zucker HR Mizrak E Reagh Z Ranganath C
In
Biorxiv
Working memory recruits long-term memory when it is beneficial: Evidence from the Hebb EffectMizrak E Oberauer K
In
Psyarxiv
Representation of Task Structure in Human Hippocampus and Orbitofrontal CortexMizrak E Bouffard NR Libby LA Boorman E Ranganath C
In
Biorxiv
Using Ensembles of Cognitive Models to Answer Substantive QuestionsSingmann H Kellen D Mizrak E Öztekin I
In
Psyarxiv
Research Group