Welcome to the Music and Neuroscience Lab! The lab is run by Dr. Grahn, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies music. Dr. Grahn is an Associate Professor in the Brain and Mind Institute and the Department of Psychology at Western University, in London, Ontario.

Before that, she was at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England, and an Associate Lecturer in Biological Psychology with the Open University. 

(And a little tip: Grahn rhymes with "on", not "an").

Research Interests

  • Why do we move to music? 
  • How is musical rhythm processed in the brain? How do brain responses to musical rhythm differ from similar types of movement and timing? 
  • How and why do other animals' brain responses to music differ from ours? 
  • Can musical rhythm have therapeutic benefit? (more information). 

Other areas in which I have expertise include:
  • the use of real-time fMRI scanning to examine if people can change their own brain activity (neurofeedback)
  • the effects of training on cognitive function (brain training, musical training)
  • how listening to different types of music affects memory

Research Opportunities

If you are interested in research opportunities in the Music and Neuroscience lab, please get in touch. Students may want to read about important traits I look for in both undergrads and grads.  

Undergraduate students should send Dr. Grahn a CV, transcript, writing sample, as well as a short description of why they are interested in this area of research and the time commitment they are able to make.

Post-docs may want to look at the Banting Fellowships, Marie Curie fellowships (Europeans), CIHR Fellowships, NSERC Fellowships, or other lists of fellowships. This list, too.
The BMI has its own fellowship competition  twice per year.

International students interested in doing a placement in the lab should send similar materials as undergraduate students (as above), and should look at Western's procedures.

News

- Here are our recent publications

September:
Welcome to new PhD student, Kristi Von Handorf, and new MSc students, Justin Hopper and Syed Raza.

August:
Congratulations to Brendon Samuals and Josh Hoddinott for completing their Master's theses with flying colours!

Call for Postdocs! Interested applicants can see here for more information. 

April: ​
Congratulations to senior undergraduate student Ashmita Singh on receiving the Mitacs Globalink Research Award! 

March: 
Check out this Cognitive Neuroscience Society Press Release featuring the lab's work, presented as part of a symposium by postdoc Molly Henry and Dr. Grahn

The Springer Handbook of Systematic Musicology is now published! This handbook features a range of scholars in the field of music cognition, including our very own Aaron Gibbings, Tram Nguyen and Dr. Grahn with their chapter "Rhythm and Beat Perception". 

January:
Dr. Grahn talks to the Daily Beast on how Music Might Help Neil Diamond Fight His Parkinson's Disease 
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 Jessica Grahn                                                        jgrahn@uwo.ca
 Brain and Mind Institute
 Department of Psychology
 Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, 5118
 Western University
 London, ON, CANADA