Lab Members
Virginia Penhune, PhD
Lab Director/Principal Investigator
Virginia Penhune is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and an Adjunct Faculty member in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill. She is a founding member of the Montreal Laboratory for Brain Music and Sound (BRAMS).
Dr. Penhune received her BA degree in Philosophy from Wellesley College in 1981. Upon realizing that the brain could be more fruitfully studied from the laboratory than from an armchair, she completed a PhD in Psychology at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Michael Petrides. Her doctoral research examined the neural basis of auditory rhythm perception and production. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at Laval University with Dr. Julien Doyon focused on the neural basis of motor skill learning. Dr. Penhune joined the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in 2000.
The research in Dr. Penhune’s laboratory explores the neural basis of human motor skill learning and performance, with an emphasis on the impact of development and expertise. She uses structural and functional neuroimaging techniques to examine the role of the cerebellum, striatum and motor cortical areas in motor learning, and to explore auditory-motor integration in the context of the perception and production of musical rhythms. This research program takes a broad developmental perspective, including studies in children and older adults, as well as individuals with musical training. Important current lines of research include investigating the neural basis of auditory-motor interactions, the impact of early musical training on behaviour and brain structure, and transfer from music training to language skills.
Work in Dr. Penhune’s lab is funded by both national and provincial agencies, including the National Science and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institute for Health Research and the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the Grammy Foundation.
Connor Spiech, PhD
Post-doctoral Researcher
I'm a postdoctoral research fellow at Concordia University researching the neural mechanisms linking musical rhythms to movement. Specifically, I investigate how prior experience and rhythmic complexity interact to compel us to synchronize our movements to the beat using neurostimulation, neuroimaging, and behavioral techniques. My PhD work at the University of Oslo's RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time, and Motion addressed similar questions, primarily using pupillometry and electroencephalography (EEG). I enjoy brewing, playing music, Bayesian statistics, and barbecuing.
Alexander Albury
PhD Candidate
I'm a PhD candidate in the Psychology Department at Concordia. I completed an MA in Social Sciences at The University of Chicago, and a BA in Psychology at The University of The Bahamas. My research focuses on how complexity, expectation, and enjoyment related to music interact to affect motor learning. My research interests include music cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and psycholinguistics. I'm also interested in data science, science communication, and science writing.
Isaac Romkey
PhD Student
I'm a PhD student in the clinical psychology program at Concordia University. I hold a BSc in Psychology from Dalhousie University. My current research focuses on investigating musical groove, the pleasurable desire to want to move to music. In particular, I am investigating if the pleasurable sensation and wanting to move are separable from one another. My research interests include perception and encoding, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopathology. I also have a passion for data science and open science.
Chad Vachon
MA Student
I'm a Master’s Clinical Psychology student at Concordia. I earned a Masters in Psychology from York University where I specialized, won awards, and published articles on understanding how motor learning changes under various conditions. I am currently researching the neural basis of motor learning by finding out where and how the brain processes information from sound and movement. I'm passionate about improving our understanding of motor learning so that we can improve people’s daily use of technology.
Maria Psomas
MA Student
I am a Clinical Psychology Master’s student at Concordia University. I also completed a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology at Concordia. My current research project explores how the starting age of music training affects auditory-motor processes like speech synchronization and language learning abilities. I also use brain imaging techniques such as electroencephalography to investigate my research questions. My research interests include cognitive and developmental psychology, psychopathology and linguistics. My other passions include data science communication as well as mentoring and teaching psychology students.