Julia Spaniol

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Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Aging Lab Director, Memory and Decision Processes Lab Professor Undergraduate Thesis Coordinator Faculty of Arts Department of Psychology Toronto, Ontario jspaniol@torontomu.ca Office: (416) 979-5000 ext. 552268

Bio/Research

Dr. Spaniol received her doctorate in cognitive psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and subsequently completed postdoctoral work at Duke University Medical Center and at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest in Toronto. Since 2007, Dr. Spaniol has directed the Memory...

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Bio/Research

Dr. Spaniol received her doctorate in cognitive psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and subsequently completed postdoctoral work at Duke University Medical Center and at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest in Toronto. Since 2007, Dr. Spaniol has directed the Memory and Decision Processes (MAD) lab in the Department of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. She held the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2, NSERC) in Cognitive Aging from 2014 until 2024.

Research in the MAD lab examines the interplay between cognition, emotion, and motivation, as well as age-related changes in these domains. Current research projects investigate (1) the impact of emotion and arousal on decision making, (2) the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in cognitive engagement and performance, and (3) prosociality – thoughts and actions aimed at improving the welfare of others. The MAD lab uses a combination of behavioural and brain-based methods, including eye tracking, event-related potentials (ERPs), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Current projects are supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund.

Dr. Spaniol teaches undergraduate and graduate courses related to cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. She welcomes inquiries from people interested in getting involved in the MAD lab as research participants, volunteers, student researchers (BA, MA, and PhD), or external collaborators.


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