Who we are
Director:
Prof. Dr. Lauren Fink
I'm an asst. Professor in the Dept. of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, also affiliated with the McMaster Insitute for Music & the Mind, the School of Computational Science & Engineering, the Neuroscience Graduate Program, and the Centre for Advanced Research in Experimental and Applied Linguistics. Prior to coming to McMaster and starting the BEAT Lab, I lived in Germany, California, England, and Ohio. My training as an orchestral percussionist with a focus on "experimental music" informs many of my research interests. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work with incredible students and collaborators at McMaster and across the globe!
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PhD Student:
Shreshth Saxena
I'm interested in scalable methods of eye-tracking and their application to study audiovisual attention in dynamic real-world, music listening contexts. Prior to my Ph.D., I graduated with a Bachelors and Masters in Computer Science from University of Delhi, India, and gained valuable experience working as a Computer Vision developer in the industry. I'm always excited to discuss accessible technologies, mathematical/programming challenges, retro games and guitar riffs!
CV |
LinkedIn |
Twitter
PhD Student:
Maya Flannery
I am interested in understanding how and why we like music through individual listening experiences. I have completed a BA and MSc in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University with a specialization in music cognition. Throughout my studies, I have developed a strong interest in Open Science issues and in creating an inclusive and accessible scientific community for everyone. Outside of academia, I am an amateur musician, enjoy being outdoors, and love sci-fi, fantasy and role-playing games.
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PhD Student:
Alexander Nguyen
I’m interested in basic and multimodal research in the context of human musical engagement. Currently, I’m investigating how different signals and modalities predict subjective states during musical interaction, and comparing computational models of musical expectation. Before joining BEATLab, I studied Music Informatics at Karlsruhe University of Music (Germany), focusing on live electronics, Ambisonics, and spherical microphone and loudspeaker arrays. I have professional experience as a full-stack developer and system administrator in telecommunications and digital humanities. I enjoy bridging digital technology with scientific and philosophical inquiry related to music cognition and value moments of insight—especially those that reveal I had misunderstood something without even realizing it. Outside of research, I occasionally play the piano.
Everyone who has helped shape the lab!
Joshua Schlichting (PNB '25): How Music Advocacy Influences Audiences' Prosociality.
Kyra Bonus (PNB '25): Maladaptive music listening: A systematic review, thematic analyses, and meta-analysis.
Jackson Shi (PNB '25): AVOKE: an open-source web-based experimentation toolbox for evoking audiovisual responses.
Gloria Liu (PNB '25): The self-reference effect in science communication: Does personal relevance drive social media engagement?
Megan Klose (PNB '25): The differential effects of active and passive bilateral stimulation.
Ahmed Saeed (Neuroscience '25): Prosocial effects of manipulated synchrony on co-performers and affiliates.
Alador Bereketab (Health Sciences '25): The Role of Music in Medicine: Exploring the Neurological Implications of Classical Music Pedagogy Training (CMPT) for Children.
Mariyah Shaikh (PNB '24): What is the relationship between cardiac interoception, music, and anxiety?
Connor Horsley (Neuroscience '24): Using eye-tracking tools to quantify the relationship between attentional fluctuations and synchronization performance dynamics in an adaptive tapping task.
Catherine Deng (Health Sciences '24): Music description and categorization: A semantic analysis of user-generated tags.
Neil Lobo (Computer Science '24): Part of SocialEyes team
Areez Visram (Software Engineering '24): Part of SocialEyes team
Mehak Khan (Software Engineering '24): Part of SocialEyes team
Biranugan Pirabaharan (CS '24): Part of SocialEyes team
Zahid Mirza (Engineering '24): Part of SocialEyes team
Jay Mody (Software Engineering '24): Part of WebSight team (preprint forthcoming)
Caitlin Bridel (Software Engineering '24): Part of WebSight team (preprint forthcoming)
Michelle Domagala-Tang (Software Engineering & Management '24): Part of WebSight team (preprint forthcoming)
Eshaan Chaudhari (Software Engineering & Management '24): Part of WebSight team (preprint forthcoming)
Alexander Nguyen (DAAD-funded visiting student '24)
Eva Morgand (MITACS intern '24)
Soley Siegel (MITACS intern '24)
Betul Asdemir (PNB independent study '24)