Current Members

• Dr. Caroline Palmer (caroline.palmer (at) mcgill.ca), Professor, Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Performance, McGill.
• Dr. Bavo Van Kerrebroeck (bavo.vankerrebroeck (at) mail.mcgill.ca), Postdoc researcher, McGill.
• Wenbo Yi (wenbo.yi (at) mail.mcgill.ca), PhD candidate, McGill
• Polina Plitchenko (polina.plitchenko (at) mail.mcgill.ca), MSc candidate, Experimental Psychology, McGill.
• Kai Mikkelsen (kai. mikkelsen (at) mcgill.ca), MA student, Music Technology, McGill. 
• Emilie Nuyttens (emilie.nuyttens (at) mail.mcgill.ca), BASc student, Neuroscience, McGill.
• Elizabeth Harrigan (elizabeth.harrigan (at) mail.mcgill.ca), BASc student, Cognitive Science, McGill.
• Michelle Xu (michelle.xu (at) mail.mcgill.ca), BASc student, Neuroscience, McGill. 

Dr. Caroline Palmer

Caroline Palmer's research program combines two related issues in cognitive psychology: how people remember long sequences typical of speech and music, and how they produce those sequences. Many theories of memory for speech, written language, pictures, and other human endeavors focus on the problem of serial order: knowing what comes next in a sequence. What most theories do not address is the time course of retrieval: when particular sequential (serial order) information is available, and for how long. We focus on the time course of serial order in music performance and in speech, the most complex of human skills.

See Dr. Palmer's webpage for more information (including contact information).

See selected publications. 

Dr. Bavo Van Kerrebroeck

Bavo joined the SPL as a post-doc in March 2023. He is a researcher in embodied music cognition, extended reality, and human-computer interaction. He obtained a master’s in engineering and computer music at the KUleuven and Sorbonne University (IRCAM) and completed his PhD at Ghent University (IPEM). He currently works on the development of musical agents to investigate the emergent qualities in collective music making.

• Van Kerrebroeck, B., Crombé, K., de Leymarie, S. M., Leman, M., & Maes, P. J. (2024). The virtual drum circle: polyrhythmic music interactions in mixed reality. Journal of New Music Research, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09298215.2024.2339244
• Campo A, Michałko A, Van Kerrebroeck B, Stajic B, Pokric M, Leman M. (2023). The assessment of presence and performance in an AR environment for motor imitation learning: A case-study on violinists. Computers in Human Behavior. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563223001619
• Rosso M, van Kerrebroeck B, Maes PJ, Leman M. Embodied perspective-taking enhances interpersonal synchronization. (2023). A body-swap study. iScience. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223021764?via%3Dihub
• Van Kerrebroeck, B., Caruso, G., & Maes, P. J. (2021). A methodological framework for assessing social presence in music interactions in virtual reality. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 663725. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663725
• Van Kerrebroeck, B., & Maes, P. J. (2021). A breathing sonification system to reduce stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 623110 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.623110

Wenbo Yi

Wenbo joined the SPL as a PhD student in September 2022. He studied Sound Recording at the Bachelor's and Master’s levels in China, then completed a Master’s degree in Music, Communication and Technology at the University of Oslo, Norway. Wenbo also worked at the RITMO Center of Excellence in Oslo, where his research included rhythm perception and production, linguistic rhythm, and cardiac synchrony in musical ensembles. His current research focuses on group dynamics in complex music activities.

• Høffding, S., Yi, W.​, Lippert, E., Sanchez, V. G., Bishop, L., Laeng, B., Danielsen, A., Jensenius, A. R., & Wallot, S. (2023). Into the Hive-Mind: Shared Absorption and Cardiac Interrelations in Expert and Student String Quartets. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231168597 

Polina Plitchenko

Polina joined the SPL as a MSc student in January of 2023. She earned her Bachelors degree in Syracuse University where she majored in psychology and minored in anthropology. She holds an NSERC award and her current research examines the auditory-motor synchronization between partners and how different types of practice can improve joint synchrony with a partner.

Kai Mikkelsen

Kai joined the SPL as a technical assistant in Fall 2023. He earned a Bachelors degree in Software Engineering from the University of Victoria and is currently pursuing his Masters of Arts in Music Technology at McGill. His research interests include Digital Signal Processing and Music Information Retrieval.

Emilie Nuyttens

Emilie is an undergraduate student completing a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. She joined the Sequence Production Lab in September 2023. Her research project examines auditory-motor synchronization in small ensemble groups and its evolution during interactions with a virtual partner.

Elizabeth Harrigan

Elizabeth joined the SPL in Fall 2023 as an undergraduate. She is completing a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science with focuses on Linguistics and Computer Science. Her honours research project examines the physiological effects of group synchrony, including the relationship between musical and cardiac synchrony and effects of disrupting synchrony.

Michelle Xu

Michelle joined the SPL in Fall 2023 as an undergraduate volunteer. She recently completed a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from McGill University and will pursue graduate studies in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto. She has contributed to projects investigating the emergent properties of musical synchrony in small ensembles. She currently examines the physiological effects—respiratory and cardiac patterns—of synchrony within pairs.