Sara Bengtsson

Sara Bengtsson is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where she joined as a Senior Lecturer in 2017. She is also affiliated with the Neurophysiology Unit, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, reflecting her ongoing collaborative research ties. Her academic background includes a PhD in Brain Imaging from Karolinska Institutet (2005) and an MSc in Chemistry from Lund University (2000).

Her research focuses on cognitive neuroscience, particularly error monitoring, working memory, motivation, and social cognition. She investigates how confidence, self-image, feedback, and motor actions influence learning and cognitive performance, typically using lab-based behavioral and brain imaging experiments. Her work bridges experimental psychology and clinical applications, including studies on olfactory loss and educational neuroscience.

The trends in her recent publications reflect a strong emphasis on performance monitoring, post-error adjustments, motivation, and the neural underpinnings of learning. Her research spans from basic cognitive processes to applied interventions, such as vitamin A therapy for smell disorders and cognitive effects in programming education. Keywords across her work include cognitive control, feedback, self-monitoring, and neuroimaging.

She actively supervises PhD, Master’s, and undergraduate students, fostering research in cognitive and social neuroscience. Her students have completed projects at both UEA and Karolinska Institutet.

Scientific Awards:

• No scientific awards mentioned in the provided text.

Grants and Projects:

• A Proof of Concept Study for Vitamin A Nasal Drops in Post-Viral Olfactory Loss – Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (Aug 2021 – Dec 2024).
• Hands-on in computer programming education: understanding educational effects and brain processes – Funded by the Swedish Research Council (Aug 2017 – Dec 2022).

Labs and Research Groups: Sara Bengtsson is a member of the Developmental Science research group at UEA and affiliated with the Neurophysiology Unit at Karolinska Institutet, indicating active participation in cognitive neuroscience research with both developmental and clinical dimensions.