Dr Aytac Karabay PhD

Dr Aytac Karabay

Dubai Campus
Assistant professor

Dr. Aytaç Karabay is a cognitive scientist specializing in attention and working memory, combining experimental and computational approaches to study how the mind processes and retains information, with expertise in EEG and behavioral and computational methods.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Groningen 2020
  • MA in Experimental Psychology, CUNY – Brooklyn College 2015
  • BA in Psychology, Ankara University 2011

Biography

Dr. Aytaç Karabay completed his undergraduate studies in Psychology at Ankara University in 2011 and earned an MSc in Experimental Psychology from Brooklyn College-City University of New York in 2015, focusing on visual perception. He then completed a Ph.D. at the University of Groningen, investigating how stimuli influence temporal attention and perception.

After his Ph.D., Dr. Karabay pursued two postdoctoral positions specializing in working memory research. In his first postdoc, supported by the NWO Open Research Area (ORA) project, he studied latent states of visual working memory, its temporal dynamics, and neural correlates using EEG. In his second postdoctoral position at New York University Abu Dhabi, his research focused on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying attention and working memory, exploring their capacity limitations and interactions.

Teaching

Research Methods B

Research Methods D

Postgraduate supervision

Shuyao Wang (PhD student) – “Computational and neural underpinnings of visual information processing”

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Karabay, A, Wolff, MJ, Ruuskanen, V & Akyürek, EG 2025, 'Behaviorally Irrelevant Feature Matching Increases Neural and Behavioral Working Memory Readout', Psychophysiology, vol. 62, no. 2, e70020. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70020

Wang, S, Karabay, A & Akyürek, EG 2024, 'Attentional blur and blink: Effects of adaptive attentional scaling on visual awareness', Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 117, 103627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2023.103627

Akyurek, EG, Altinok, A & Karabay, A 2024, 'Concurrent consumption of cocoa flavanols and caffeine does not acutely modulate working memory and attention.', European Journal of Nutrition, vol. 64, 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-024-03514-8

Kandemir, G, Wolff, MJ, Karabay, A, Stokes, MG, Axmacher, N & Akyürek, EG 2024, 'Concurrent maintenance of both veridical and transformed working memory representations within unique coding schemes', Imaging Neuroscience, vol. 2, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00173

Karabay, A, Nijenkamp, R, Sarampalis, A & Fougnie, D 2024, 'Introducing ART: A new method for testing auditory memory with circular reproduction tasks', Behavior Research Methods, vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 8330-8348. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-024-02477-2

Guérin, SMR, Tarlao, C & Karabay, A 2024, 'Our journey as intern junior editors at the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance', Science Editing, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 160-163. https://doi.org/10.6087/kcse.345

tınok, AA, Karabay, A, Jong, JD, Balta, G & Akyürek, EG 2023, 'Effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid on working memory and attention: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial', Journal of Psychopharmacology, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 554-565. https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811231161579

Altınok, A, Karabay, A & Akyürek, EG 2022, 'Acute effects of cocoa flavanols on visual working memory: maintenance and updating', European Journal of Nutrition, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 1665-1678. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-021-02767-x

Chen, IY, Karabay, A, Mathȏt, S, Bowman, H & Akyürek, EG 2022, 'Concealed identity information detection with pupillometry in rapid serial visual presentation', Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14155

Karabay, A, Wilhelm, SA, de Jong, J, Wang, J, Martens, S & Akyürek, EG 2022, 'Two Faces of Perceptual Awareness During the Attentional Blink: Gradual and Discrete', Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , vol. 151, no. 7, pp. 1520-1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001156

Karataş, O, Karabay, A & Alıcı, T 2022, 'Uzun Süreli Kakao Flavanolleri Alımının Bilişsel İşlevlere ve Duygudurumuna Etkileri ve Bu Etkilerin Altındaki Fizyolojik Mekanizmalar: Bir Derleme Çalışması', Türk Psikoloji Yazıları, vol. 25, no. 49, pp. 21-26. https://doi.org/10.31828/tpy1301996120211203m000043

Karabay, A & Kurylo, DD 2020, 'Discriminating global orientation of two element sets', Journal of Cognition, vol. 3, no. 1, 39. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.127

Karabay, A & Akyürek, EG 2019, 'Temporal integration and attentional selection of color and contrast target pairs in rapid serial visual presentation', Acta Psychologica, vol. 196, pp. 56-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.04.002

Karabay, A, Saija, JD, Field, DT & Akyürek, EG 2018, 'The acute effects of cocoa flavanols on temporal and spatial attention', Psychopharmacology, vol. 235, no. 5, pp. 1497-1511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-018-4861-4

Karabay, A & Akyürek, EG 2017, 'The effects of Kanizsa contours on temporal integration and attention in rapid serial visual presentation', Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, vol. 79, no. 6, pp. 1742-1754. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-017-1333-6

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