Senior Scientist
Brian Levine, Ph.D., C.Psych., ABPP-cnSenior Scientist, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences
Professor of Psychology and Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto Dr. Brian Levine obtained his Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of South Florida and completed fellowships in clinical neuropsychology at McLean Hospital in Boston and cognitive neuroscience at the Rotman Research Institute. He has published over 200 peer reviewed scientific articles and chapters on memory, frontal lobe function, traumatic brain injury, aging, dementia, and rehabilitation as well as Mind and the Frontal Lobes: Cognition, Behavior, and Brain Imaging (2012, Oxford University Press) and Goal Management Training™ intervention for executive deficits (with Ian Robertson and Tom Manly). He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and Association for Psychological Science and recipient of the 2015 International Neuropsychological Society's Benton award for mid-career research achievement. He has obtained over $10 million in grant funding as a principal investigator. Dr. Levine, a board-certified neuropsychologist, is clinically active, providing expert opinions in cases involving brain injury, dementia, and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Levine is frequently called upon to communicate research findings to health professionals and the general public. He has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBC radio, USA Today, Psychology Today, Scientific American Mind, Wired, New York Magazine, and Discovery Health. |
Postdoctoral Fellows
Krista Mitchnick, Ph.D. (C.Psych., Supervised Practice)I obtained a PhD in Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience in 2018 from the University of Guelph (supervised by Dr. Boyer Winters), where my research focused on the neurobiology of learning and memory in rodents. Having always been torn between basic research and clinical work, I then completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology - Neuropsychology stream in 2023 at York University (supervised by Drs. R. Shayna Rosenbaum and Erez Freud). Here, my research took an interdisciplinary approach, assessing the involvement of individual hippocampal subfields in perception and memory using brain damaged case studies and rat lesion models. As part of my clinical training, I completed neuropsychological assessment practicum placements at Sunnybrook Hospital (Toronto) and the Community Head Injury Resource Services (Toronto), as well as a full year predoctoral residency in Clinical Neuropsychology at the London Health Sciences Centre (London, ON). As a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Brian Levine, my research is centred around characterizing the neural correlates and functional outcomes of individual differences in autobiographical memory within various populations. Clinically, I am conducting neuropsychological assessments in private practice. Outside of my research and clinical work, I am an avid gym-goer and reader and love the outdoors. I am also wildly competitive when it comes to board games…
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Ryan Yeung, Ph.D.I completed my PhD at the University of Waterloo in 2022, studying memories that spring to mind involuntarily. Known as recurrent or intrusive memories, I found that these memories were surprisingly common in daily life. Importantly, properties of these memories were systematically related to individual differences. For instance, the emotional quality and the content (i.e., what people report remembering) of these memories significantly predicted symptoms of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. In my postdoc, I hope to build on my past work by investigating cognitive and neural mechanisms of why emotional memories persist or fade away. I am particularly interested in hypotheses that emotional memories are enhanced due to their strong ability to evoke mental imagery; as such, emotional remembering might be modulated by individuals’ trait-level abilities to generate such imagery. Other research interests of mine include computational methods of analyzing autobiographical memories, such as natural language processing and machine learning. Outside of research, I’m a fan of hipster music, hipster tabletop role-playing games, and insisting that I’m not actually a hipster.
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Matt McPhee, Ph.D., C.Psych. (Supervised Practice)
I completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Toronto in 2022. During my PhD, my program of research included two prominent foci. The first area focused on examining the bidirectional relationship between response inhibition and alcohol use behaviours; that is, how alcohol produces state-like alterations of response inhibition and, conversely, how response inhibition ability predicts alcohol consumption. The second major focus of my research was centred on clinically-informed questions, such as examining the feasibility of innovative behavioural interventions for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. I completed a pre-doctoral internship in neuropsychology at Baycrest, where my passion for clinically-informed research flourished. In my postdoctoral fellowship, I will continue to build my clinical research program by examining individual difference factors that predict real-world treatment effectiveness of the Goal Management Training intervention. In general, I am interested clinically-driven research that has potential to improve healthcare outcomes and delivery. Outside of research, I’m an avid baker, I’m always trying to learn something new, and I love spending time outside, surrounded by nature.
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Graduate Students
Xuan ZhangI graduated with an Honours B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Toronto. My undergraduate thesis explored computational modeling in category learning under the supervision of Dr. Michael Mack, and investigated the effects of brain modulation and prior knowledge on learning, supervised by Dr. Asaf Gilboa. I subsequently worked as a lab manager with Dr. Rosanna Olsen, where I studied the longitudinal changes in cognition associated with aging through comprehensive neuropsychological assessments. These diverse research experiences have deepened my passion for memory research, particularly in understanding how previous experiences influence the encoding and retrieval of future events. In my graduate studies, I aim to extend this research by investigating the role of sleep as a key mechanism in memory consolidation, using multi-modal neurological measures such as EEG, fMRI, and MEG to explore how experiences are solidified and transformed within different memory systems. I am eager to begin my Ph.D. journey, where I hope to uncover the impacts of sleep on memory and explore potential applications of this research in supporting individuals with cognitive decline. Outside of the lab, I am an avid karaoke singer and ballet enthusiast—feel free to reach out if you share a love for singing!
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Shikang Peng, M.A.I earned my M.A. in Social Science-Psychology from the University of Chicago, working with Dr. Wilma Bainbridge and Monica Rosenberg. Before that, I completed my Honors B.Sc. in Psychology at the University of Alberta under Dr. Peter Dixon. During my master’s, I explored the predictability of attention and memorability neural pattern on memory performance using fMRI, and image memorability’s impact on social media virality using machine and deep learning. My undergrad thesis focused on cognitive coupling—how attention and reading work together—while my independent study, supervised by Dr. Peggy St Jacques, examined the impact of dimensionality on memory using VR. These experiences shape my research interests into episodic memory and perception. As I begin my Ph.D., I’m hoping to pursue these two directions using fMRI and my machine learning experiences. Outside the lab, I’m a novel enthusiast and a role-playing game fan, often found getting lost in a good book or battling fictional foes.
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Visiting graduate student
Alexander Pilgaard KaiserI am a visiting PhD student from Aarhus University, Denmark, where I also earned my master’s degree in psychology. My research explores how music triggers autobiographical memories, supervised by Professor Dorthe Berntsen at the Center on Autobiographical Memory Research (CON AMORE). My PhD focuses on two main projects aimed at understanding the unique characteristics of music-evoked autobiographical memories: In one project, we investigate whether memories evoked by music are better preserved than memories evoked by comparable cues for people with Alzheimer’s disease. The second project compares the memories and future thoughts evoked by music and paintings in healthy younger adults. Additionally, we explore how individual differences in how people generally remember autobiographical events influence the personal events triggered by music and paintings. Outside of my research, I enjoy listening to jazz and heavy metal, playing the harmonica, and reading sci-fi and philosophy.
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Research assistant
Graduate assistant
Tolu FaromikaI recently graduated from the Psychology Specialist Co-op program from the University of Toronto. I also minored in Biomedical Ethics because of my interest in the rules of conduct that exist in clinical settings. My undergraduate thesis (supervised by Professor Andy Lee) was on how spatial contexts influence the memory integration/separation process. I’ve had the opportunity to assist in other labs such as the UTSC Infant Lab and the Schachar Crosbie Lab at the Hospital for Sick Children during my undergraduate degree. In these labs, I assisted with research relating to motor development in children as well as the factors involved in neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD, ASD, and OCD in adolescents, respectively. I’m excited to be part of the Levine Lab because of my personal research interest in memory and memory deficits. In my spare time, I can be found hosting the BrainCore Podcast, painting, or playing a few different instruments in a concert band!
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Undergraduate assistants
Amina ShmanovaI am a third-year student at the University of Toronto with a Major in Cognitive Science and a minor in Computer Science and Psychology. My research interest revolves around the processes underlying human cognition and the understanding of how computer-based technologies can facilitate neuropsychological studies. I've had the opportunity to work and assist in labs such as Lingua Memoria at Baycrest Institute and UTSG Toronto Language and Cognition Lab. These experiences fostered my interest in the processes of formation and reactivation of conscious memories and the transformation of non-linguistic cognition into the verbal one. I hope to continue the exploration of cognitive processes through the Levine Lab. Outside of my academic interest, I enjoy reading literature and exploring new coffee places in Toronto.
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Summer Student
Zoé LabontéI recently graduated from York University with a Specialized Honours BA in psychology. I completed my Undergraduate Honours Thesis, supervised by Dr. Buddhika Bellana, on predicting depression by measuring valence in spontaneous thoughts. Through the use of free association tasks, I looked at the assessment of depression in our spontaneous thoughts. This project fostered my desire to pursue a career in clinical psychology and deepen my knowledge of psychological disorders. My experience as a research assistant at the BellanaLab also increased my interest in memory research and in particular the effects of memory impairment on cognitive processing. I'm delighted to be joining the Levine Lab as a summer research assistant, as it aligns with my interests in memory research. Outside the lab, I can be found watching movies, painting and listening to music!
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