Our Team

Principal Investigator

Research Fellows

Dr. Lei Zhang

Lei is a postdoctoral fellow working with Claude Alain. He received his Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience in 2023. His research interests lie in auditory processing, specifically speech and music, and multimodal influences (e.g., visual, motor information) on them through using different techniques like EEG, MRI, and psychophysics. He is also investigating how musical training and aging interactively influence auditory processing. When he is not in the lab, he will make some noise with his violin and go sightseeing in both the real and the fantasy world. To view his publications, please see here.

Mello Mo

Mello is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on how people with hearing impairment adapt to their new cochlear implant (CI) over time at sensory and cognitive levels using EEG. In her free time, Mello enjoys playing video games and spending time with friends.

Aisling (Ash) Sampson

Ash is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto.

Veronica Vuong

Veronica is a Ph.D. candidate in Medical Science and a research coordinator at the Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto. Through her research, she aims to use various neuroimaging techniques to gain a greater understanding of the neural mechanisms by which long-known music listening may promote changes in the brain and result in cognitive improvements, such as memory, in persons with dementia. Veronica is a professional musician (pianist) and enjoys travelling, hiking, gardening, art, and exploring new and diverse food.

Sara Jani

Sara is a Ph.D. student in Psychology at the University of Toronto. In 2023, she graduated with a HBSc in Neuroscience from UofT, during which she studied the role of socioeconomic status and neuroinflammation in predicting depressive symptom severity and reward-related functional connectivity in adults with depression. Sara’s doctoral research is aimed at using EEG and other neuroimaging methodologies to characterize changes in cognition and neural activity in adults with age-related hearing loss, to better understand how hearing loss might contribute to cognitive impairment in older adults. Outside of the lab, Sara enjoys watching movies, going to concerts, and knitting or crocheting little trinkets for her friends!

Dr. Jennifer Bugos

Jennifer Bugos is a Professor of Music Education at the University of South Florida where she directs an interdisciplinary research lab (Coordination and Cognition Across the Lifespan in Music; CALM lab).  After completing professional studies in music education (BM, MM, Ph.D.), Bugos completed post-doctoral work at UF in Clinical-Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr. Bugos’ research interests include the neurological basis for music perception and cognition with regard to human development, lifelong learning, and cognitive transfer. Her interests have led to the development of new music education programs for healthy and clinical populations of children (Multimodal Music Training), and for adults (Keys to Staying Sharp; Piano for Parkinson’s). In 2020, Bugos served as a Visiting Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute and worked with Claude Alain. In 2023, she received a Fulbright Research Chair Award in Psychology to support collaborative research on neural pattern separation with Shayna Rosenbaum and Claude Alain.

Dr. Maxime Perron

Maxime was a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the laboratory, he completed a master’s degree in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Rehabilitation at Université Laval, in which he studied the structural neuroplasticity induced by amateur singing and its effects on speech-in-noise in aging. His doctoral projects focused on the impact of hearing loss and hearing devices on auditory perception, cognitive processing, and brain function in older adults using behavioural, EEG, and MRI methods. When Maxime is not in the lab, he enjoys baking, playing board games and spending time with friends.

He recently received his Ph.D. in Psychology in 2024 and will continue to collaborate with the Alain Lab. To view his publications, please see here.

Ricky Chow

Ricky Chow is a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Neuropsychology program at York University under the supervision of Shayna Rosenbaum and co-supervision of Claude Alain. As a former lab manager of the Alain Lab, his past research examined how sensory-evoked potentials to vision, hearing, and touch, in addition to EEG and behavioural measures of inhibition performance, vary in aging and among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). His current research lies in the cognitive neuroscience of memory and aging, specifically how event-related potentials (such as the mismatch negativity, or MMN) can inform memory changes associated with aging, MCI, amnesia, and musical training. In his spare time, Ricky enjoys exploring Toronto’s food scene, playing piano, hiking, squash, undergraduate peer mentorship, and performing oboe/clarinet in wind orchestras.

Evi Myftaraj

Evi is a Ph.D. candidate and researcher under the supervision of Nicole Anderson and Claude Alain. He is investigating age-related memory decline, conducting a variety of behavioral tasks augmented with techniques such as electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), skin conductance and eye tracking.

Lauren Cole

Lauren is an accredited Neurologic Music Therapist and a current PhD student. She completed her Master of Arts in Music and Health Sciences (MA) at the University of Toronto, as well as her Hon. B.A in Music Therapy at Acadia University. Lauren has experience working as a Research Coordinator with Dr. Michael Borrie’s Cognitive Clinical Trials Group in London, Ontario. She hopes to contribute to the advancement of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease research, exploring music as a non-medicinal therapeutic approach. Lauren enjoys travelling, dog walking, and exploring new neighborhoods in the city!

Mica Pec

Mica is a M.A. Psychological Science student in the Cognitive Hearing Laboratory at Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2019, she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Guelph- Humber in Toronto. She is fascinated with memory and how the brain declines with age. Her current research investigates underlying mechanisms of cognitive decline in age-related hearing loss. Specifically, how long-term memory and attention interact and are impacted in older adults with varying degrees of hearing loss. The research aims to shed light on early markers of cognitive decline and dementia. In her spare time, Mica enjoys spending time with her two rabbits (Lisa and Bart), swimming, and learning new languages, such as German.

Amisha Ojha – Sam & Ida Ross Memory Clinic, Dr. Morris Freedman

Madison Grassi – Research Assistant
Ashna Imran – Lab Manager
Ricky Chow – Lab Manager
Victoria Nieborowska – Lab Manager
Jeffrey Wong – Lab Manager
Claire Salloum – Lab Manager
Patricia Van Roon – Lab Manager
Yu He – Lab Manager
Ayomide Fakuade – Research Assistant
Alix Noly-Gandon – Research Assistant