Researchers
Erin Hannon
Principal Investigator
Erin Hannon is a Professor of the Psychological and Brain Sciences department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She received a Ph.D. Experimental Psychology in 2005 from Cornell University. Her research combines her interests in cognition, culture, child development, music and dance, and language. She examines how an individual's culture-specific listening experiences influence his or her perception of music, the similarities and differences between musical and linguistic skills as they develop and perhaps interact during infancy and childhood, how we acquire the ability to move in time with music, and how developmental milestones in music perception might be related to other social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic abilities and behaviors. Download her publications or her vita.
Solena Mednicoff
Post-Doc
Solena (she/her) is a post-doctoral researcher working with Drs. Erin Hannon, Joel Snyder, and Stephen Benning to study Misophonia. Her research interests include the neuroscience behind why we enjoy music and how the brain interprets and responds to music. Growing up in Las Vegas, Solena trained as a semi-professional pianist and graduated from the Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts. After high school, Solena discovered her passion for science at University of Nevada, Reno where she earned a B.S. in Neuroscience and minor in piano performance. Solena went on to earn her Ph.D. in Cognitive Sciences, with an emphasis in Cognitive Neuroscience, at UC Irvine where her dissertation examined the cognitive and neural mechanisms of major/minor musical mode processing.
Rodica Constantine
Graduate Student
Rodica is a Ph.D. student in the Psychological and Brain Sciences program studying with Drs. Erin Hannon and Joel Snyder. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Music from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a piano pedagogy certificate from Carnegie Mellon University. Her primary research interests lie at the intersection of music and language perception and acquisition across development. Additional interests include auditory scene analysis and perceptual restoration in audition. Aside from research, she enjoys playing and teaching piano, songwriting, and hiking.
Jared Leslie
Graduate Student
Jared graduated from UNLV in December 2018 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. He is currently a pursuing a Ph.D. in the Psychological and Brain Sciences program with a focus in Development. He has interest in language acquisition, tempo perception and neural development. He plays several percussion instruments with his favorite being the Marimba. Outside of school he enjoys hiking, reading, and volunteering with various community service organizations.
David Vollweiler
Graduate Student
David is a Ph.D. student in the Psychological and Brain Sciences program working with Drs. Erin Hannon and Joel Snyder. He is from Long Island, NY and holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. in Data Analysis in Social Sciences from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. There, he studied the association between involuntary musical imagery (commonly referred to as “earworms”) and musical abilities in the Auditory Perception and Action Lab under the advisement of Dr. Peter Pfordresher. He has been interested in music since childhood and has learned to play the trumpet and sing. He has specific interests in looking at the role auditory imagery plays in musical abilities. Outside of school and research, he enjoys going to concerts, traveling the world, and exploring Las Vegas.
Dan Berkowitz
Graduate Student
Dan Berkowitz (he/him) is a 2nd year grad student in the Psychological and Brain Sciences program studying with Dr. Snyder. He moved to Las Vegas to join the lab last summer from Boston, where he had been living for the past 5 years. There, he finished his undergrad at Tufts University with a double major in Cognitive & Brain Sciences and Music, graduating in 2021. He stayed at Tufts for an extra year, earning a Master’s Degree in Data Analytics before entering UNLV last fall! His research currently focuses on the sensation of groove in music and other forms of audio-affective processing, and he is also working on replicating a study as part of the #EEGManyLabs consortium. In his free time, Dan enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering with pals, listening to metal music, playing trombone, and cuddling with his cat Zebby.
Shanika Wickramarachchi
Graduate Student
Shanika (She/Her/Hers) is a first year Ph.D. student in the Psychological Brain Sciences (PBS) program at UNLV. She is hoping to study the impact culture can have on gender identity and sexuality, particularly in those identifying with a multicultural background. Prior to starting PBS, Shanika worked as a Registered Behavior Tech, where she had the opportunity to work with children with Autism to help them with skills acquisition and communication. Shanika graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in Spring 2022. She graduated with Honors and holds a BA in Psychology with a Research Emphasis and a BA in Sociology, along with a minor in Social Research and Applied Statistics. Outside of studying and research, Shanika loves exploring national parks, collecting crystals, and hiking.
