Eren Günseli
Sabancı University
Date/Time: Thursday, 11 December 2025, 16:30 pm
Place: Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center Seminar Room (SC-106)
Abstract:
Working memory is often described as a mental workspace that actively keeps task-relevant information online. Yet, sustaining such activation is metabolically costly and unnecessary when familiar contexts or rules can automatically cue what we need. I will present EEG evidence showing that the brain can minimize working memory recruitment for repeated or studied information, presumably reflecting reliance on long-term memory. However, representations are reactivated in working memory when task contexts change or when new rules must be applied. This interplay between memory systems strikes a balance between the energy efficiency of passive storage and the flexibility of active maintenance—an adaptive mechanism that allows selective reactivation to serve as an efficient bridge between working and long-term memory.
Bio:
Dr. Eren Günseli is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Sabancı University, where he directs the Memory, Attention, and Cognitive Control Lab. His research investigates how the mind selectively activates and updates information in working memory, how attention interacts with memory, and how the temporal structure of episodic memory forms. Using behavioral, EEG, and fMRI methods, his work aims to uncover the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support adaptive memory and flexible behavior. Dr. Günseli has received several national and international awards, including the TÜBİTAK Incentive Award, the Bilim Akademisi BAGEP Award, the ODTÜ Mustafa Parlar Foundation Research Award, and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Seal of Excellence. His research has been published in journals such as The Journal of Neuroscience, eLife, and Cortex.