海角社区

Dr. Palmer is the Director of the NSERC-CREATE training grant in Complex听Dynamics; an Associate Member of the Schulich School of Music; and a听Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Research Areas:

Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience听| Behavioral Neuroscience

Research Summary:

From cradle to grave, people across all documented societies use music听to soothe, to invigorate, to bond with others, and even to听self-medicate. My research program focuses on how and why music moves us听by studying how people make music, from simple rhythms to complex听ensemble performances. Music, speech, and other auditory behaviors听engage attention, intention, memory, motor control, and emotions. My听research focuses on the time course of these processes. One theme听addresses the nonlinear dynamics underlying the production of auditory听sequences. Speech, music, and other human sounds follow predictable听patterns or rhythmic regularities that can be modeled in terms of听oscillations. We apply principles of nonlinear dynamics to understand听how people move in response to sound (such as clapping or tapping their听feet) and how they act in response to a partner in a joint task (such as听musical ensemble). A second theme addresses the temporal coordination听that underlies skilled performance, and properties of goal-directed听movement that allow individuals to synchronize their actions with听sensory feedback and with other individuals. See our lab website for听more information.

Selected References:

B茅gel, V., Demos, A.P., & Palmer, C. (2024)听Duet synchronization interventions affect social interactions.听Scientific Reports,听14(1), 9930.听

Wright, S.E., & Palmer, C. (2023) Auditory rhythm complexity affects cardiac dynamics in perception and synchronization.听PLoS One,听18(11): e0293882.听

van Kerrebroeck, B., Wanderley, M.M., Demos, A.P., & Palmer, C. (2024). Human-machine trios show different tempo changes in musical tasks.听In L. K. Samuelson, S. L. Frank, M. Toneva, A. Mackey, & E. Hazeltine (Eds.),听Proceedings of the 46th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.

Demos, A.P. & Palmer, C. (2023) Social and nonlinear dynamics unite: Musical group synchrony.听Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11,听1008-1018.听听

Palmer, C., & Demos, A.P. (2022). Are we in time? How predictive coding and dynamical systems explain musical synchrony.听Current Directions in Psychological Science, 31,听147-153.