OUR TEAM
R. Nathan Spreng, PhD
Principal Investigator
James McGill Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery
The Laboratory of Brain and Cognition is directed by Dr. Nathan Spreng, a Full Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University. The lab examines large-scale brain network dynamics and their role in cognition. Currently, we investigate attention, memory, cognitive control, and social cognition, and the interacting brain networks that support them. We are also actively involved in the development and implementation of multivariate and network-based statistical approaches to assess brain structure, connectivity and activity. In doing so, we aim to better understand the properties of brain networks underlying cognitive processes as they change across the lifespan in health and disease.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Alfie Wearn, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research interests: Structural brain changes in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, quantitative MRI, longitudinal modelling, ApoeE, neuroinflammation, neuropsychological testing
Current project: Quantitative MRI of the isodendritic core
Personal hobbies:
Summer: Hiking & camping, jumping in lakes, birdwatching.
Winter: Playing games, cooking good food, planning for summer.
Veronica Diveica, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research interests: Functional neuroimaging, functional brain networks, memory, cognitive control, social cognition
Current project: 1) Default network activity and interactivity in support of goal-directed access to prior knowledge, 2) Neural and behavioural correlates of wisdom
Personal hobbies: Board gaming, reading, hiking, cat worshipping, squirrel watching
Graduate Students
Shanny Foo
PhD candidate in Neuroscience
Research interests: Functional and structural neuroimaging, longitudinal modelling, big data analysis, multivariate statistics, dementia, aging, social cognition, clinical populations
Current project: Longitudinal modelling of disease progression and social cognitive functioning for early detection of genetic frontotemporal dementia
Personal hobbies: Inventive baking, vegetarian foodie, travelling, cat custodian, making pretty plots, reading, coffee, puzzles, curious wandering
Emily Davidson
PhD student in Neuroscience
Research interests: Network neuroscience and functional connectivity, cooperation and competition of networks. More broadly, cognitive science and philosophical approaches to the mind and brain
Current project: An investigation into the temporal dynamics of anticorrelated networks in the human brain
Personal hobbies: Martial arts, SCUBA diving, strategy games (always looking for new chess opponents!). I also mix a mean drink
Patrick Hewan
MA student in Clinical Neuropsychology
York University
(Supervisor: Gary Turner, PhD, CPsych)
Research interests: Aging and decision-making, functional and structural neuroimaging, brain networks, neuropsychological disease, emotions and their neural correlates, how music impacts the brain and music therapy
Current project: We are trying to understand how decision-making changes across the lifespan and in neuropsychological disease by looking at exploration vs. exploitation style decisions and their neural underpinnings. We are combining comprehensive structural and functional MRI, with a large battery of decision-making tasks, with the goal of understanding the brain structures and networks that are involved in decision-making and how they change throughout life and in diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Personal hobbies: Jazz and classical piano, photography, computer programming, tennis, swimming, reading, drinking coffee
Jing Zhou
PhD candidate in Neuroscience
Research interests: Quantitative susceptibility mapping, episodic memory, Alzheimer’s Disease, healthy aging
Current project: We aim to evaluate hippocampal iron using quantitative susceptibility mapping in a cohort of healthy older individuals at elevated risk for Alzheimer's Disease, and relate iron content to pattern separation and completion
Personal hobbies: Badminton, pilates, film, traveling
Adam Hull
MSc student in Neuroscience
Research interests: Brain dynamics, cognition
Current project: Using MEG and time-series entropy measures to study the relationship between then complexity of brain activity and cognition.
Personal hobbies: Listening, thinking, and writing. Also muay thai
Miriam Taza
PhD candidate in Neuroscience
Research interests: Network neuroscience, functional and structural neuroimaging, blood-brain-barrier, Alzheimer’s disease, healthy aging, consciousness
Current project: Studying the role of the basal forebrain in healthy aging and Alzheimer's Disease. Specifically, I investigate the relationship between multi-modal neuroimaging data (structural/functional MRI, H-MRS, PET) and cognitive/behaviour measures.
Personal hobbies: Cooking, photography, reading/writing philosophy, plant caring, playing strategy boardgames, consuming coffee
Daniel O'Sullivan
Research interests: White matter MRI, Alzheimer’s disease, loneliness, socially relevant brain networks
Current project: Implications of loneliness in brain network structure and Alzheimer’s progression
Personal hobbies: Socializing, the great outdoors, reading and writing philosophy, weightlifting, art of all forms, and a life of expedition
Kayla Williams
MA student in Clinical Neuropsychology
York University
(Supervisor: Gary Turner, PhD, CPsych)
Research interests: Internally-directed cognition, affective cognition, autobiographical memory, decision-making, emotional disorders, large-scale functional connectivity
Current project: Investigating the effect of motivation and apathy on explore-exploit decision-making and memory in the context of healthy aging
Personal hobbies: Full-time kitty mama; coffee enthusiast
Research Assistants & Undergraduate Students
Jonah Miller-Smith
Research Assistant
Research interests: ...
Current project: ...
Personal hobbies: ...
Ting Ting Liu
Research Assistant
Research interests: Neural mechanisms involved in post-traumatic stress disorders and dissociative disorders, fear learning and extinction, cognitive inflexibility, schema rescripting, autobiographical memory
Current project: Examining shifts in exploration and exploitation biases during decision-making in younger and older adults using neuroimaging and behavioural data
Personal hobbies: Reading, writing, discovering new cafes and dessert spots in Montreal
LBC Alumni
Postdoctoral Fellows
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Colleen Hughes, PhD
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Taylor Schmitz, PhD
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Michael A. Ferguson, PhD
Graduate Students
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Giulia Baracchini, PhD
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Manesh Girn, PhD
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Aïda B. Fall
Visiting PhD student -
Alexander Bailey
Visiting PhD student -
Jamie Snytte
Visiting PhD student -
Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, PhD
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Roni Setton, PhD
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Amber Lockrow, MA
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Anne Laurita, PhD
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Elizabeth DuPre, MA
RA / Undergraduate Students
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Nathalie Prenevost
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Corina Lazarenco
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Yigu Zhou
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Sophie Hübner (Visiting student)
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Eliana Muszynski
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