Psyche Loui

Psyche Loui is Associate Professor of Creativity and Creative Practice in the Department of Music and director of the MIND (Music, Imaging, and Neural Dynamics) lab at Northeastern University. She graduated from University of California, Berkeley with her PhD in Psychology, and attended Duke University as an undergraduate with degrees in Psychology and Music. Dr. Loui studies the neuroscience of music perception and cognition, tackling questions such as: What gives people the chills when they are moved by a piece of music? How does connectivity in the brain enable or disrupt music perception? Can music be used to help those with neurological and psychiatric disorders? Dr. Loui’s work has been supported by National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, received multiple Grammy awards, a young investigator award from the Positive Neuroscience Institute, and a Career award from the National Science Foundation. Her projects have been featured by the Associated Press, New York Times, Boston Globe, BBC, CNN, the Scientist magazine, and other news outlets.

 

Susanne Jaeggi

Susanne M. Jaeggi’s research program focuses on understanding individual differences in working memory, executive functions, and related cognitive domains, as well as their malleability across the lifespan using experimental and neuroscientific approaches. Because of the relevance of those cognitive domains in educational settings and daily life, her major work has focused on the development of assessments and interventions, and the extent to which working memory and executive functions can be improved with both, experience and targeted training. She is particularly interested in understanding the underlying mechanisms of learning and cognitive training, and determining for what individuals and populations cognitive training is most effective and why. She received PhDs in Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience, as well as a ‘Habilitation’ degree in Psychology from the University of Bern in Switzerland, and she conducted postdoctoral work in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Michigan. Her work has been funded by NIH (NIA, NMIH), NSF, IES, ONR, or the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF; EF+Math Program).

 

Aaron Seitz

Seitz’s research program aims to understand mechanisms of cognitive processes and to apply this knowledge for public benefit. His academic training is diverse, with a BA in theoretical mathematics, PhD in computational neuroscience, postdoctoral work in systems neuroscience and neuroimaging. His research has led to new insights regarding the roles of reinforcement, attention, multisensory interactions, and different brain systems in learning, computational approaches to learning, translational neuroscience and perceptual/cognitive enhancement, among others. He utilize psychophysical, physiological, imaging, pharmacological, genetic, and computational methods to study cognitively diverse populations, ranging from individuals with cognitive deficits (due to disease, injury, or development) to neurotypical individuals, to specialists (e.g., radiologists, athletes). As Director of the Brain Game Center for Mental Fitness and Well-being, he uses ambulatory tools (e.g., that run on mobile phones and tablets) to reach larger, more diverse, and traditionally underserved/understudied populations, to understand cognitive diversity (broadly defined) and to create tools to measure function and to personalize training based upon individualized needs.

Amy Shirong Lu

Amy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies of the College of Arts, Media and Design and in the Department of Health Sciences of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. She directs the Health Technology Lab, where she explores the psychological and behavioral effects and mechanisms of interactive media such as video games and virtual reality for health and well-being promotion and maintenance.

Amy received her BA in English from Peking University, and her master’s in Communication Studies and doctorate in Mass Communication from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Amy is on Northeastern University’s 2022-2023 Interdisciplinary Research Sabbatical to continue and initiate collaborations with the Department of Psychology.