Meet the Team
Meet our team merging Psychology and Neuroscience, Art and Design, Music, as well as Applied Psychology and Rehabilitation Sciences. We are collaboratively advancing understanding, pioneering research, and innovating interventions for optimal neurological well-being.
Faculty
Aaron Seitz, Ph.D
Principal Investigator at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Department of Psychology, Department of Art+Design, Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences
Dr. Seitz is a Professor of Psychology and the Co-Director of the Brain Game Center. He is internationally recognized for his research on mechanisms of perception, learning, and multi-sensory processing. His aim is to create accessible tools and personalized training that measure and improve cognitive performance within larger, more diverse, and traditionally underserved populations. He conducts his research using psychophysical, physiological, brain imaging, psychopharmacological, genetic, and computational approaches.
Susanne Jaeggi, Ph.D
Principal Investigator at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Department of Psychology, Department of Applied Psychology, Department of Music
Dr. Jaeggi is a Professor of Psychology and the Co-Director of the Brain Game Center. As a Cognitive Neuroscientist and Experimental Psychologist, she has a broad interest in general processes of working memory and related higher cognitive functions, and within that domain, the investigation of cognitive training and transfer is one of her current major foci of research. She strives to determine what training regimens and training conditions result in the best transfer effects, investigate the underlying neural and cognitive mechanisms, and finally, investigate for what populations and individuals cognitive training is most effective.
Anja Pahor, Ph.D
Affiliate Assistant Professor at Northeastern University Department of Psychology in the College of Science
Anja Pahor is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maribor Department of Psychology and an Affiliate Assistant Professor at Northeastern University Department of Psychology in the College of Science. Her research centers on deciphering the mechanisms governing higher-level cognitive functions, with a particular focus on memory and reasoning. She designs and implements cognitive training studies and develops tests that are valid towards assessing potential learning effects. Anja’s ultimate ambition lies in exploring the transformative role of technology in enhancing learning outcomes and overall well-being.
Jaap Munneke, Ph.D
Assistant Research Professor and Associate Director at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Jaap Munneke is an Assistant Research Professor at the Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. After obtaining his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Italy, followed by tenured PI positions in Turkey and the UK. A main theme of his research examines the link between attention and visual perception, aimed towards a better understanding of the behavioral and neural correlates of attentional control mechanisms driven by prior experience and lingering selection biases. An additional line of research concerns the fate and function of visual information that is not attended and does not get processed into conscious experience. The overarching goal of his work is to better understand the interplay between attention and multi-level visual processing.
Project Contributors
Martin Buschkuehl, Ph.D
Co-Investigator at the Working Memory and Plasticity Lab
Martin Buschkuehl’s main interest lies in cognitive training, especially working memory training where he looks at performance transfers of trained tasks to untrained ones. Besides behavioral investigations, he also looks into the neural aspects of such transfers as investigated by means of fMRI. He is interested in investigating the theoretical foundations of transfer but also in applied aspects of working memory training. In his work, he only focuses on healthy young adults, but also on old adults, typically developing children, and children diagnosed with ADHD. He is the Director for Education Research at the MIND Research Institute.
Elnaz Vafaei, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Cognitive and Brain Health at Northeastern University & SoundMind Collaboratory
Elnaz Vafaei joined as a postdoctoral researcher after completing her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on computational neuroscience at AZAD University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran. Her research revolves around EEG signal processing, neuromodulation techniques, and the application of machine learning for data analysis, with a special emphasis on developing cognitive training methods. Proficient in Python scripting, she actively contributes to the creation of brain training tools and excels in data visualization and cognitive data analysis, significantly contributing to the exploration and understanding of the human brain.
Esteban Sebastian Lelo de Larrea-Mancera, Ph.D
Affiliate with the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
E. Sebastian Lelo de Larrea-Mancera is an affiliate with the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory specialized in auditory perception cognition and action. Sebastian is an international scholar from Mexico that has been key in fostering collaborations with some of the main national institutes for mental and brain health there. Sebastian is a master (MSc.) in cognitive systems and interactive media, has lectured Psychology and Neuroscience courses for a number of years, and has received his PhD in cognitive neuroscience under the supervision of Aaron Seitz. Sebastian is also interested in the design and development of interactive media applications that closely resemble aspects of real world auditory challenges for improved perceptual evaluation and training.
Freya Joëssel, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Freya Joëssel is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory as well as the Learning and Transfer Lab at UW-Madison. After a master’s in physics from EPFL in Switzerland, she wandered off to graduate with a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Geneva. She is interested in the factors that make cognitive learning effective in real life settings. After looking at the mechanisms of cognitive trainings (specifically Action Video Games) that lead to greater attentional control, she is currently investigating how expectations toward a training task may impact the outcome of said training task on various cognitive measures. When she is not doing behavioral research, she is also looking at the neural and physiological bases of the state flow using various peripheral physiological measures, fMRI and EEG.
Marcello Maniglia, Ph.D
Assistant Research Psychologist at the UCR Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Marcello Maniglia is an Assistant Research Psychologist (equivalent to a non-tenure track Assistant Professor) at UC Riverside, where he has been since 2016. He joined UC Riverside after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Toulouse, France, and earning a PhD from the University of Padova in Italy. His research focuses on perceptual learning and neural plasticity in both healthy and clinical populations. Marcello’s primary interest is understanding how the brain adapts to central vision loss caused by macular degeneration (MD) and enhancing visual rehabilitation. He employs behavioral, oculomotor, neuroimaging, and brain stimulation techniques to translate his research into practical applications.
His fascination with vision science and the brain can be traced back to his early exposure to classic late-night films such as the 1963 cult classic X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes and the 1957 sci-fi movie The Brain from Planet Arous.
Lakshmi Kannan, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Lakshmi Kannan joined as a postdoctoral fellow after pursuing her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences. Her research interests involve cognitive-motor interference, cognitive fatigue on physical function, and the development of therapeutic design to promote independent functioning among neurocognitive disorders and the elderly. She is currently engaged in multiple research projects involving diverse populations like pediatric age individuals with Autism, individuals with mild concussion, older adults with and without HIV, and older adults with and without cognitive impairment or dementia. She works on data visualization and analysis of cognitive, vision, and hearing performance data, utilizing MATLAB, Python, and R. Lakshmi adeptly presents this data at various cross-functional team meetings. She contributes to explore study endpoints, defining study hypotheses, and preparing data analysis methods for the involved projects.
Graduate Students
Ashley Manley, B.A.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Ashley is a graduate student enrolled in Northeastern University’s Ph.D. program for Psychology. As a member of the SoundMind Collaboratory and Brain Game Center, she passionately explores the fascinating realms of cognitive psychology. Prior to her Ph.D. pursuit, she earned a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development from Cal State San Marcos. Ashley’s research interests center around strength-based approaches tailored to neurodivergent populations. Her work delves into the realm of improving cognitive outcomes by leveraging the potential of cutting-edge technology. Through her diligent efforts, she aims to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those with unique cognitive profiles.
Morgan Gomez, B.S.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Morgan Gomez is a 4th year graduate student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. Her research focuses on understanding the variations in cognition among individuals and exploring cognitive training methods tailored to older adults. Currently, she is investigating the individual differences between people aging with HIV and those aging without HIV. Her aim is to gain insights into these distinctions in order to develop more targeted cognitive interventions that effectively support older adults. She hopes to use her research to better, support, and address the needs of the community.
Mohammad Dastgheib, M.S.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Mohammad Dastgheib is a graduate student at the department of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. He is a member of both the Perception and Learning Lab and the Laboratory of Aging and Neurocognitive Imaging. He received his Hons. B.Sc. in Biology and Psychology from York University in Toronto and obtained his M.Sc. in psychology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. Mohammad’s main focus is investigating how aging influences the role of Locus Coeruleus (LC) in cognitive processes. He takes a multifaceted approach, integrating behavioral data and advanced neuroimaging techniques to comprehensively characterize LC integrity’s impact on perceptual processes in the aging population.
Mariya (Masha) Vodyanyk, M.A.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Masha (Mariya) Vodyanyk is a graduate student working with Dr. Susanne Jaeggi at the SoundMind Collaboratory. Masha received her B.S. in neurobiology at University of Wisconsin, Madison and her M.A. in Education at the University of California, Irvine. Over the years, Masha has explored the effects of activity engagement on cognition and wellbeing. During her graduate career, she studies the effects of learning representational drawing on attention, visuospatial reasoning, and mindfulness of older adults. She developed a drawing course that successfully teaches people to draw representationally and changes the way one views their environment. She is interested in understanding the cognitive and perceptual changes that occur as a result of gaining expertise in representational drawing. In her free time, Masha enjoys plein air painting as a way to exercising both her creativity and knowledge of the psychology of art.
Quentin Coppola, B.A.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Quentin grew up in Arizona and moved to California to complete his undergraduate in Psychology/Neuroscience at the University of San Francisco. During his bachelor’s, he began as a volunteer and worked his way up to study lead coordinator at UCSF, where he worked at Neuroscape and the Memory and Aging Center. These two prominent centers is where he developed a passion for helping and understanding cognitive aging, with a particular focus on how video games and other technology can be leveraged to help both researchers and patients. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. at the SoundMind Collaboratory combining advanced multivariate methods and digital cognitive data in older adult populations. In the future, he hopes to combine multi-modal data streams to better characterize cognitive aging and dementia in older adults.
Kamryn Mattingly, B.A.
Graduate Student at the UC Riverside Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Kamryn Mattingly is a PhD student at UCR under the supervision of Professor Aaron Seitz. Kamryn specializes in the measurement of inhibitory control and impulsivity in humans, and how understanding the structure of distinct underlying factors can better inform how such tools are used clinically. Other experience includes exploring the function of the locus coeruleus using fMRI and how it may mediate cognitive function in older adults.
Andrew Sun, M.S.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Andrew is a 2nd year graduate student in the Psychology PhD program at Northeastern. He received his MS in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas, investigating neural and behavioral improvements in a cognitive training app, BrainHQ. His current research focuses on the extent to which metacognitive ability can be trained. To that end, he is developing a training paradigm to improve the quality of confidence judgments about visual decisions by drawing from principles in perceptual learning and other domains of cognitive training. His ultimate goal is to understand the relationship between metacognition and consciousness, the latter of which was influenced by his experience with mindfulness meditation and movies like Ex Machina and Ghost in the Shell. Outside of the lab, Andrew enjoys playing chess and is active in the Boston dance community, specializing in Breaking and House.
Zechun Zhao, B.S.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Zechun is a first year Psychology graduate student at Northeastern University and the SoundMind Collaboratory. Zechun finished her bachelor’s degree double majoring in Psychology and Statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include cognitive training, specifically how individual differences and people’s experience shape the learning process, and the use of quantitative methods aimed to advance psychological research.
Peige Wang, M.S.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Peige is a first-year grad student at Northeastern University. She received her master’s degree in University College London majoring in Psychology of Education. During her master’s, she was part of a project developing a virtual classroom scenario to assess children’s executive function ability. She developed an interest in adopting virtual reality (VR) in psychological experiments and training. Currently, she works in a VR vision project aiming to alleviate visual deficits in people with visual impairments.
Cloie Dobias, B.M. & B.A.
Graduate Student at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Cloie received her B.A. in Psychology and her B.M. in Music Performance from Miami University in Oxford, OH. After graduating, she worked for 5 years as a lab manager and project coordinator at UNC-Chapel Hill with the Care for Family (C4F) and Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) teams. As a first-year graduate student in the lab, Cloie is interested in music and how various musical experiences (mindful listening, formal/informal training, therapy & interventions, etc.) can impact cognition, emotion regulation, mental health, neural development, and overall well-being.
Lab Management
Audrey Carrillo, M.A.
Associate Director of the Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Audrey Carrillo is the Research Manager at the University of California, Riverside Brain Game Center. Audrey received her B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Psychological Research at California State University, Long Beach (go beach!). She has worked at the Brain Game Center since 2019 and has played a large role in managing the center’s research and administrative operations. In her free time, Audrey enjoys running marathons, listening to Taylor Swift, and hanging out with her three dogs, Jackie, Lexie, and Oreo.
Vy Ngo, M.S.
Research Technician at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Vy Ngo is a Research Technician at the the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. Vy received her B.A. in Psychology and International Relations at Lawrence University, and her M.S. in Learning Sciences and Technologies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Vy’s first experience in research was being a Research Assistant at her college’s developmental psychology lab, where she saw the need for additional support for students and teachers in the form of tangible educational tools and assistance in classrooms and at home. Vy is also interested in intersectional identities and their effects on one’s cognition and performance in social, specifically educational, settings. At the Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory, she hopes to contribute her experience in research project coordination, foster a supportive lab environment, and continue to pursue her research passion in creating tangible support for diverse communities.
Giancarlo Arzu, B.F.A.
Research Technician at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Giancarlo earned his bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2018 as a Jazz Bass Performance major with minors in Digital Arts and Music Theory. He joined the Working Memory and Plasticity Lab at the University of California, Irvine under the direction of PI Susanne Jaeggi during January 2022 while completing a post-baccalaureate program in psychological science. Upon completion of the program, Giancarlo transitioned into a role as a research fellow where he created stimuli for a music-based intervention and interacted with older adult participants for data collection involving neuroimaging. Giancarlo is excited to take on his latest role of Research Technician at the SoundMind Collaboratory where he will continue to contribute his knowledge of art and education to the Collaboratory’s ongoing studies.
Jessica Yee, B.S.
Research Technician at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Jessica Yee is a Research Technician at the Northeastern Brain Game Center and SoundMind Collaboratory. Jessica received her B.S. in Psychology and Neuroscience at University of Massachusetts Amherst. During her undergraduate studies, she was a Research Assistant in the Learning Lab and the Human Performance Lab where she worked with child participants and young drivers with and without ADHD respectively. Her interest now lies in developmental neuroscience, specifically using cognitive training tasks and neuroimaging techniques, such as EEG and MRI, to understand cognitive processes and to predict mental health risk across various communities.
Diya Anand, B.A.
Research Technician at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Diya Anand received her B.A in Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Her introduction into research came when she joined the UC Riverside Brain Game Center as an Undergraduate Research Assistant, later continuing on to the role of Research Technician at the Mills College at Northeastern University campus. Her current interests are in the use of digitized cognitive assessments in school settings and improving the accessibility of cognitive assessments for underserved populations. In her free time Diya enjoys baking (she makes a mean bagel) and spending time with her dog Gus.
Diego Jacuinde, B.A.
Research Technician at the UCR Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Diego received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Riverside. With 4+ years of experience at the UC Riverside Brain Game Center, Diego has developed a comprehensive understanding of the center’s operations and now assists the lab’s efforts as a Research Technician. He specializes in implementing inclusive recruitment and outreach practices in research. He is interested in dementia prevention related projects that promote cognitive assessment accessibility and early detection of the disease. Additionally, he volunteers for the Alzheimer’s Association where he promotes Alzheimer’s awareness and connects local community members to dementia related resources. When outside of the lab, Diego enjoys working with electronics, playing music with his friends, and exploring sonic landscapes using synthesizers.
Maximilian Tang, B.S.
Research Technician at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Maximilian Tang graduated from the University of California, Riverside where he then went on to work for the Perception, Action, and Development Lab under Dr. John Franchak in 2022. From there, he made the transition to Boston to join the Brain Game Center and SoundMind Collaboratory at Northeastern University. His research interests include emotion regulation strategies and its influence in developmental psychopathology. In his free time, he loves to boulder and explore boba shops.
Interactive Designers
Tamara Lizotte, B.A.
Interactive Designer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Tamara Lizotte is an Interactive Designer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. She holds a B.A. in Game Art and Design, and is proficient in graphics, illustration, and more! Her work at the lab focuses on developing applications for a multitude of studies.
Programmers
Katherine Acevedo
Director of Development at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Katherine Acevedo is a Creative Director and developer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. She comes to the lab with decades of design and development experience for toys, games, interactive, simulation, medical, and enterprise for big and small companies such as, Disney, Microsoft, Mattel, Stryker, and Abbot. In addition to her work at the lab, her own company is developing software for first responder training and health monitoring, and veteran PTSD treatment.
David Clamage
Technical Director at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
David Clamage is the Technical Director at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego. His professional journey began in the field of AAA games, collaborating with several notable game studios. He later extended his expertise to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry, using his knowledge of game mechanics to create practical solutions. Currently, David applies these skills to develop applications that support cognitive and audiology research. Continually open to new challenges, David remains focused on using technology and game design to contribute to advancements in neuroscience.
Shawn Kiewel
Programmer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Shawn Kiewel is a Senior Backend Developer at the Northeastern Brain Games Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. His primary focus is designing and building systems that will allow for the data collected by the Center to be readily shared with researchers.
Bryant Zhang, B.S.
Programmer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Bryant Zhang is an applications programmer at the Northeastern Brain Games Center & SoundMind Collaboratory focused on Unity applications and software. He is focused primarily on designing and maintaining software used for research and neurological studies.
Richard Manzano, B.S.
Programmer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Richard is an Applications Programmer at the Northeastern Brain Games Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. His focus is on gamifying, modularizing, and migrating cognitive assessments from other collaborators into the PART and BGC Science applications.
Dean Thurston, B.A.
Programmer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Dean received his B.A. in Computer Science and Game Design from Northeastern University and now works at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory as a Programmer focused in Unity development. He has worked with Unity for the last 10 years in fields like Robotics and Medical Device Development and now focuses on AR/VR interactions along with data collection and analytics for VR devices.
Mackenzie Allen, B.S.
Programmer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory
Mackenzie Allen is an applications programmer at the Northeastern Brain Game Center & SoundMind Collaboratory. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Fordham University and specializes in front-end technologies, while also expanding her expertise into full-stack development. Mackenzie is passionate about building efficient, user-friendly applications and continuously evolving her skills in the tech field.