Ayelet Sapir

Dr Ayelet Sapir PhD

Senior Lecturer

Dr Ayelet Sapir joined the School of Human Sciences at the University of Greenwich in February 2025. After completing her PhD in 2002, she held a research associate position at Washington University School of Medicine. She then worked at Bangor University in the School of Psychology and Sport Science from 2007 until her move to Greenwich.

Dr Sapir has over 15 years of experience designing and delivering undergraduate and postgraduate modules in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and research methods.

She teaches within a large academic department with a diverse student demographic of over 1,000 students across UG and PGT programmes. Her professional interests lie at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and applied translational research, with a focus on developing innovative approaches to aid rehabilitation in individuals with neurological impairments.

Posts held previously 

  • 2007-2024 – School of Psychology and Sport Science, Bangor University, UK
  • 2002-2006 – Research Associate, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Psychology

Responsibilities within the university

Module leader for Introduction to Applied Psychology.

Recognition

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Research / Scholarly interests

Dr Sapir’s research focuses on several aspects of visual perception and spatial attention. Her work investigates the effect of light position on 3D perception, exploring the neural correlates and individual/cultural differences related to 3D perception using psychophysics, imaging, and brain stimulation in ageing, children, and brain lesion patients.

She also examines the cognitive and neural mechanisms that enable efficient exploration of the environment, particularly the neural signals associated with attentional shifts and the effects of spatial cues on stimulus detection.

Additionally, her research explores the impact of focal brain lesions on spatial attention and mechanisms underlying recovery from neglect, a neurological syndrome affecting attention to the left side of space.

Currently, she is developing two new strands of work at the University of Greenwich: stroke rehabilitation, in collaboration with experts in psychology, sports science, and clinical colleagues, and chronic stress and cognition, which explores the impact of chronic stress on cognitive function and predictors of resilience.

Key funded projects

Current funding

2024 – British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants - Designing Tools for Motor Rehabilitation After Stroke – £9,926.

Recent publications

Recent publications

Hershman, R., Keha, E., Sapir, A., Weiss, E. M., Henik, A., & Kaufmann, L. (2024). Evidence for two types of task conflict in a color-digit Stroop task. Journal of cognition, 7(1), 54.

Hershman, R., Sapir, A., Keha, E., Wagner, M., Weiss, E. M., & Henik, A. (2023). EXPRESS: The Contribution of Difficulty of an Irrelevant Task to Task Conflict. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 17470218241228709.

Sapir, A., Hershman, R., & Henik, A. (2021). Top-down effect on pupillary response: Evidence from shape from shading. Cognition, 212, 104664.

Pickard-Jones, B., d'Avossa, G., & Sapir, A. (2020). 3D shape-from-shading relies on a light source prior that does not change with age. Vision Research, 177, 88-96. (Impact factor 1.886).