Current Lab Members

J. Bruce Morton

Principal Investigator

Dr. J Bruce Morton completed his PhD at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Trehub and Dr. Philip David Zelazo, and then worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Yuko Munakata. He has served as a Professor in Department of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario since 2002, and is now a faculty member of the Graduate Programme in Neuroscience and a member of the Centre for Brain and Mind. Dr. Morton’s research interests concern the development of cognitive control and its association with changes in prefrontal cortex function. 

Bea Goffin

Lab Manager

I have been extremely fortunate to have spent the last 13 years working behind the scenes with an amazing research team that keeps me young(er) and on-my-toes! I have been involved in the development of study procedures, particularly the preparation of child participants for neuroimaging experiments, preparation of research ethics applications, data management, teaching of standardized testing procedures, administration of laboratory finances and proofreading of manuscripts and grant applications. On occasion, I have been known to step in when needed for recruitment and testing of participants.  Every day brings something different and one of the highlights of my time spent in the lab is watching the students develop into strong, accomplished researchers.

Samantha Goldsmith

Graduate Student

Hello! I am a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at Western, where I am lucky to work with Dr. Bruce Morton and the other members of the CDNL. My research is focused on executive functioning, its development in typically- and atypically-developing populations, and its assessment in clinical settings. I have studied executive functioning in the context of various individual difference factors, including emotion regulation abilities, second language skills, and psychological well-being. My doctoral dissertation is investigating the use of gamified technology for the assessment of executive functioning in pediatric and complex clinical populations. As part of a multidisciplinary team, I am working to develop this technology into an evidence-based assessment with significant implications for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical disorders in our most vulnerable populations. Clinically, I am interested in working with children and adolescents with developmental, academic, and mental health challenges. To date, I have been fortunate to complete clinical placements in a variety of settings, including London’s Child and Parent Resource Institute, Western’s Child and Youth Development Clinic, the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health, and (soon) the Thames Valley District Schoolboard. As a member of Western and the CDNL, I am able to adopt a true scientist-practitioner approach and pursue both research opportunities and clinical placements in the fields of cognitive functioning, evidence-based assessment, and pediatric mental health. 

 

Amira Hmidan

Graduate Student

I am a master’s student in the Clinical Psychology program at Western University. My research foci are centred on the impact of early life adversity on childhood development, including executive functioning, cognition, behaviour, and decision-making. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Francis Xavier University, and a master’s in Counselling Psychology at Western. I received assessment training at Thames Valley District School Board and worked as a psychometrist before joining Dr. J Bruce Morton’s lab.

Ronald Auguste

Graduate Student

Hi! I come from Trinidad & Tobago, where I have been a mental health practitioner for the past 10 years. During that time, it became clear to me that ADHD was and is an understudied condition throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region. I am, therefore, grateful and excited for the opportunity to be a member of the CDNL team headed by Dr. Morton. As a graduate student at Western, I hope to develop the scientific skills to analyze the phenomenon that is ADHD, as it manifests in my home region, with the ultimate goal of developing indigenous diagnostic tools and bespoke treatment protocols.

Negar Yazdi

Graduate Student

Hello! I am a master’s student in the Neuroscience program at Western University. I have a bachelor’s degree in Radiology Technology and now I am truly fortunate to be able to explore the connections between neuroimaging and cognitive neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. J. Bruce Morton and alongside the incredible team at the CDNL Lab. I will be utilizing functional MRI and the cutting-edge Neuromelanin-Sensitive MRI (NM-MRI) technique in my investigations. Specifically, I am driven to better understand the dopaminergic pathways of the brain and how they change from adolescence to adulthood. This journey promises to unlock valuable insights into the complexities of brain development and function, and I am thrilled to contribute to the exciting world of neuroscience research.

Erfan Zarenia

Graduate Student

I’m a Master’s student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Western University, working under the supervision of Dr. J. Bruce Morton in the Cognitive Development and Neuroimaging Lab (CDNL). My research focuses on the development of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway during adolescence. Using high-field neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (nmMRI) alongside diffusion-weighted imaging and behavioral assessments, I’m investigating how structural and functional features of the substantia nigra (SN) and its connections to striatal and cortical targets evolve with age. My work aims to link these neurodevelopmental changes to individual differences in self-regulatory behavior to model brain-behavior associations across development.