What is the relation between awareness, attention, and memory? Currently, I am investigating the dynamic interplay between attention and memory. My work uses EEG and behavioural measures to examine how auditory experience and memory can optimize attention and performance during online perception of real-world scenes. Specifically, I am interested both in how everyday auditory experience and implicit memory can bias spatial attention in complex scenes and in how these effects appear in different populations, for example, in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in congenitally blind individuals. This area of research is fascinating, and constantly pushes me to see the complexity of things.

My background in psychoacoustics and auditory cognitive neuroscience includes, also, examinations of 1) the role of timbre and attention in the perceptual organization of sound (auditory scene analysis) and 2) the neural encoding and cross-modal plasticity of audio-motor sequences in music learning.

My work is co-supervised by Dr. Morris Moscovitch and Dr. Claude Alain.

Graduate researcher: Attention & Memory, University of Toronto

Thesis: Does incidental auditory learning facilitate memory-guided attention? A behavioural and electroencephalogram (EEG) study
Supervisors: Dr. Morris Moscovitch and Dr. Claude Alain

• Researched the neural correlates of memory-biased attention in hearing. Designed experiments and was responsible for each step of the research process, including training of research assistants. Presented findings at 3 conferences; awarded The Ebbinghaus Award for Best Talk. Published two papers in peer-reviewed journals.

• Project: Modelling dynamics of large-scale brain networks of memory-guided attention in hearing
  Supervisor: Dr. Randy McIntosh

• Thesis 1: The role of timbre in auditory stream segregation: Investigating the critical link between auditory perception and human expression
  Supervisor: Dr. Stephen McAdams
• Thesis 2: Timbre saliency and stratification in orchestral musical
  excerpts
  Supervisor: Dr. Stephen McAdams

• Project 1: Neural encoding of audio-motor sequences in music
  learning using machine learning multi-pattern voxel analysis
  Supervisor: Dr. Robert Zatorre
• Project 2: Publication preparation; continuation of analysis (previous two theses)
  Supervisor: Dr. Stephen McAdams

Undergraduate Student Research Award (NSERC), McGill University

Project: Perceptual segregation in orchestral musical excerpts
Supervisor: Dr. Stephen McAdams

Journal Publications

1. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2020). Incidental auditory learning and memory-guided attention: Examining the role of attention at the behavioural and neural level using EEG. Neuropsychologia, 147, 107586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107586. PDF HERE

2. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2020). A systematic review and meta- analysis of memory-guided attention: Frontal and parietal activation suggests involvement of fronto-parietal networks. WIREs Cognitive Science, 12(1), e1546. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1546. PDF HERE

3. Fischer, M., Soden, K.,  Thoret, E., Montrey, M., & McAdams, S. (in press, accepted 01/2021). Instrument timbre enhances perceptual segregation in orchestral music. Music Perception.

Manuscripts in Preparation

1. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., Alain, C. (in prep). Feature conjunction and memory-guided attention: Directed attention at exposure modulates implicit memory for real-world soundscapes at retrieval.

2. Fischer, M., Guastavino, C., McAdams, S. (in prep). The role of timbre in orchestral stratification: Examining the complex intersection of auditory perception, attention, and art.

Talks

1. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2021). Memory-guided attention: A look at the neural correlates that underly "expectation for perception". Talk presented at the Neuroscience Research Group at York University (online due to COVID-19).

2. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2021). Optimizing attention and performance: The role of experience and memory. Talk presented at the Ebbinghaus Empire Data Blitz at the University of Toronto (online due to COVID-19).

3. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2020). Directed attention at exposure modulates implicit memory for real-world soundscapes at retrieval. Talk presented at the Auditory Perception, Cognition, & Action Meeting (APCAM) 2020 (online due to COVID-19).

4. Fischer, M. (2019). Memory-guided attention in hearing. Talk presented at the Rotman Research Institute Trainee December 2019 SpeakEasy, Baycrest Hospital.

5. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2019). Incidental Auditory Learning and Memory-guided Attention: A Behavioural and Electroencephalogram (EEG) Study. Talk presented at the Auditory Perception, Cognition, & Action Meeting 2019, Montreal, Canada.

6. Fischer, M., Soden, K., Thoret, E., Montrey, M., & McAdams, S. (2019). The role of timbre in perceptual segregation in orchestral music. Talk presented at the Symposium on Interdisciplinary Studies in Orchestration and Timbre: The ACTOR Project at the Society of Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC), New York, NY.

7. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2019). Does everyday auditory experience facilitate memory-guided attention? Talk presented at Toronto Area Memory Group (TAMEG), Toronto.

8. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2019). Does everyday auditory experience facilitate memory-guided attention? Invited talk presented at the Graduate Speaker Series, University of Toronto.

Posters

1. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2020). Long-term memory-guided Attention and theta-band oscillations. Flash presentation and poster presented at the Nonlinear Dynamics of Brain and Behaviour Symposium (online due to COVID-19).

2. Fischer, M., Moscovitch, M., & Alain, C. (2020). Long-term memory-guided attention and alpha-band oscillations: Implicit access to spatial information. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting (online due to COVID-19).

3. Fischer, M., Soden, K., & McAdams, S. (2017). Orchestral timbre in perceptual segregation. Invited poster (competitive) presented at the Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Conference, McGill University.

Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral Award ($105,000, over 36 months), rank: 1, NSERC

Complex Dynamics Training (CREATE) Grant ($26,000), NSERC

Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement ($6,000)

Mitacs Globalink Research Award ($4,000)

CREATE Grant ($26,000), NSERC

Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's Award ($17,500), NSERC

Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) ($5,600), NSERC

Supplements of the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards ($2,000), Fonds de Recherche du Quebec Nature et Technologies (FRQNT)

Undergraduate Student Research Award ($5,600), NSERC

Supplements of the NSERC USRA ($2,000), FRQNT

Finkler Graduate Student Fellowship ($3,000), Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest

The Ebbinghaus Award for Best Talk ($75 and invited manuscript), Toronto Area Memory Group (TAMEG), Toronto

Faculty of Arts and Science Admissions Award ($5,000), University of Toronto

Celia Hendler Scholarship in Psychology ($3,545), McGill University

Dean's Honour List (top 10%), McGill University

Dean's Honour Roll (90% average or above); Honour List (85-89% average), Vanier College

Governor General's Academic Medal (highest grade point average); Valedictorian, F.A.C.E. School

Hardware and brain imaging experience

• EEG experimentation and analyses:
• 76-channel system and audiometer
• Neurobehavioral Systems Presentation and MATLAB
• BESA Research, BESA Statistics, and Brainstorm
• fMRI analyses and visualization:
• Preprocessed fMRI data and applied machine learning multi-pattern voxel analysis techniques to audio-motor cello training data set
• Python, Shell scripting, FSL, and AFNI.

Statistical/modelling tools

• Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) used to create multi-level models.
• Meta-analysis performed, using GingerALE.
• R used for statistical analysis and visualization (GPA 4.0).

Acoustic analyses and sound editing

• Implemented MATLAB’s Timbre Toolbox to extract audio attributes from musical signals. Digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software (Logic Pro X) used to edit and render sound stimuli.

Operating systems:  Windows and Mac