Nadine Charanek, PhD Cognitive Science

Nadine’s research focuses on working memory processes in chimpanzees and humans.

Part of her work at the LNeuro-Lab investigates visuospatial processing in both bilinguals and monolinguals compared to chimpanzees as well as the behavioural and neural bases of such processing using eye-tracking, EEG and fNIRS techniques.

Research Interests: Working Memory, Comparative Psychology, Autism, Dementia, Human Factors Research, Bilingualism.

Arthur Hamilton, PhD Cognitive Science

Arthur is a PhD student researching bilingualism in neurodiverse populations. His current focus is differences in how cognitive symptoms appear in the two languages of bilinguals with schizophrenia or autism. Other research interests Arthur pursued before starting his PhD in 2021 include how sense of self is altered in people with schizophrenia and how intellectual disability is understood and certified in a non-Western context. He is co-supervised by Dr. Synthia Guimond at The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.

Irina Smirnova-Godoy, PhD Cognitive Science

Irina has done research on mental lexicon and European court of human rights as part of completing her MA in Linguistics (US) and MA in European and Russian studies (Canada) degrees. She has presented at several international conferences her research on language translation process. During her PhD program at Carleton University, she has studied misinformation paradigm, neural correlates of simultaneous interpreting and grey matter differences in bilingual and monolingual brains. 

At present, her main focus is on understanding the phenomenon of language learning aptitude through experimental measurement of individual differences.

Veronica Chiarelli, PhD Cognitive Science

Veronica has a Bachelor of Computer Science Honours and a Masters of Cognitive Science. She is now a PhD student in Cognitive Science and is joining the L-Neuro lab for a methodology rotation. Her research interests include learning and educational technologies, especially in the context of computer programming education.

Masih Zaamari, PhD Cognitive Science

Masih possesses a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Computer Science, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence. Masih's research focuses on the exploration of human imagination and mental imagery, achieved through the development of computational models. These models aim to offer valuable insights into the neural mechanisms that underlie these intricate cognitive processes.

Masih has recently joined the L-Neuro Lab for a methodology rotation, where he is collaboratively inquiring about visual mental imagery from a neuroscientific perspective. His primary research interests lie within the domain of computational modeling and computational neuroscience, with a specific emphasis on the realms of imagination and mental imagery.

Nayna Kirubakar, MA Cognitive Science

Nayna is a master's student in the Cognitive Science department. Her research interests are how the language center in the brain is affected in various disorders like schizophrenia and Alzheimer Disease. She is also interested in seeing if the impact on the language centre is different in bilinguals and monolinguals. 
She has a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and a certificate in Psychology. She also has some basic knowledge of neuroscience. Nayna is also a science communicator and is passionate about knowledge mobilization and making science accessible for everyone. 

Akshaya Baskar, MA Cognitive Science

Akshaya possesses a bachelor's in biomedical engineering and a master's in biomedical engineering.   She is currently pursuing her master's program in Cognitive Science. She has a few years of experience in clinical behavioral studies, vision research, and cognition. Since she joined our lab, she has been working on the localization of language development in the brain, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS).  Given her multidisciplinary experience, she is very much interested in language processing, developmental disorders, multilingualism, and cognition.

Sam Egan, MA Cognitive Science

Sam's research was on the cognitive predictors of student success in computer science. Sam's research interests are in the areas of cognition, psycholinguistics, and educational research.

Dalia Serik, Honours Cognitive Science, 

 Dalia is a fourth-year Cognitive Science student in the Psychology and Cognition Concentration. She is now taking part in the MegaLang project and working on her Honours Thesis. Dalia’s research interests are psycholinguistics, communication disorders and applied educational research.

Grace Yee, Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Cognitive Science

Grace is pursuing a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Cognitive Science. She holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Toronto. She is working alongside Masih Zaamari to conduct research on mental representation and language. 

Marina Panfilova, Honours Cognitive Science

Marina is a 4th year student in Cognitive Science with Concentration in Psychology and Cognition. She is currently taking part in the “Aptitude for Learning Languages: Fact or Fiction” study and working on her Honours thesis. Marina’s research interests are language development, bilingualism, and psycholinguistics.