Professor Sharon Morein-Zamir

Sharon has examined the control of actions and attention in healthy individuals and in clinical groups characterised by control processes difficulties, such as individuals with increased compulsivity (e.g., with OCD or hoarding disorder) or impulsivity (e.g. in ADHD or stimulant drug users).

She investigates behavioural mechanisms and neural correlates related to control and attention across numerous behavioural paradigms, effector systems, and taking a transdiagnostic approach across different patient groups. By integrating approaches from experimental psychology, psychiatry and cognitive neuroscience she aims to advance knowledge and understanding of the human experience and mental health conditions.

Sharon is the head of the ARU Possessions and Hoarding Collective and chairs the UK Hoarding Research Network. She is also a member of the UK Hoarding Partnership Steering Group.

• Individual attitudes and behaviours towards possessions – in the general population and in those with Hoarding Disorder
• Compulsive behaviour
• Impulsivity
• Cognitive control and executive functioning – control of thoughts, attention and behaviour including response inhibition and cognitive flexibility

Sharon welcomes enquiries from prospective research students in the areas of her research interests which include:

• Hoarding (physical and digital)
• Investigating compulsive and impulsive behaviour
• Emotion, motivation and executive functioning

Sharon leads the MSc module Quantitative Research Methods, and co-leads the MSc module Issues in Scientific Research.

Sharon teaches on these modules as well as on the postgraduate modules Imaging and Diagnostics, Topics in Clinical Child Psychology and Current Theoretical Issues in Cognitive Neuroscience. At undergraduate level, she teaches on the modules Becoming a Researcher and Research in Action.

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• MA and PhD Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada
• BA and MA Cognitive Psychology, University of Ben-Gurion, Israel

• Associate Editor, British Journal of Clinical Psychology
• Editorial Board, Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry
• Editorial Board, Comprehensive Psychiatry
  

Kaminskiy, E., Marle, R. V., Brown, S., & Morein-Zamir, S. (2026). How Specialist Forums Can Enhance Multidisciplinary Support for People Who Hoard: A Qualitative Case Study of Professional Experiences. Health & Social Care in the Community, 2026(1), 8419797. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1155/hsc/8419797

Weir, B., Kartal, E., Yap, K., & Morein-Zamir, S. (2026). Assessing and Addressing Hoarding in ADHD: A Call to Action. Psychiatry Research Communications, 100254. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psycom.2026.100254

Yap, K., Scott, J. and Morein-Zamir, S. (2025) 'The Object Attachment Security Measure: Assessing Convergent and Divergent Validity, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Measurement Invariance Across Age, Gender, and Hoarding Severity', Assessment. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911251378650

Kartal, E., Scott, J. and Morein-Zamir, S. (2025) Attitudes to possessions in emerging adults: Predictors of hoarding behaviours and beliefs. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.70003

Kaminskiy, E., Staras, C., Brown, S. and Morein-Zamir, S. (2025) '"Falling between the cracks": Investigating the competing challenges experienced by professionals working with people who hoard', PloS One, 20(5). Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0323389

Morein-Zamir, S. and Ahluwalia, S. (2023) 'Hoarding disorder: evidence and best practice in primary care', British Journal of General Practice, 73(729), pp. 182-183.

Zühlsdorff K, Dalley JW, Robbins TW, Morein-Zamir S. (2022) Cognitive flexibility: neurobehavioral correlates of changing one's mind. Cerebral Cortex https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhac431

Morein-Zamir, S., Kasese, M., Chamberlain, S. R. and Trachtenberg, E. (2022) 'Elevated levels of hoarding in ADHD: a special link with inattention', Journal of Psychiatric Research, 145, pp. 167-174. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.09.20126490v1

Morein-Zamir, S., Shahper, S., Fineberg, N. A., Eisele, V., Eagle, D. M., Urcelay, G. and Robbins, T. W. (2018) 'Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking', Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70, pp. 2052-2069.

Media spanning local, national and international outlets including radio, printed and electronic media; appearing in articles in Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, and The Globe and Mail (Canada).