Where are you from and how did you end up in U of T Psychology?
I’m originally from Newmarket Ontario, but I completed my undergraduate degree at McGill University in Montreal. I originally planned to be an artist, but somehow was enticed into the realm of cognitive neuroscience by the department of psychology.
Whose lab are you in and what are you studying?
I’m in Dr. Mary Pat McAndrews lab, studying long-term memory in individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy. We are specifically interested in learning more about accelerated long-term forgetting, which is a phenomenon where patients’ learning and retention is normal up to around 30 minutes and is forgotten at an accelerated rate at some point thereafter. We think there is a lot to be learned about long-term consolidation and forgetting by studying this patient population.
What do you currently want to know more about? Or what is a skill you would like to develop?
Always looking to improve my MATLAB skills. Also want to be proficient at analyzing MEG data. I’ve always wanted to be able to brew my own beer…
Last non-non-fiction book you read?
1984, George Orwell.
If not this, what would you be doing with your life?
Traveling.
Advice for potential graduate students?
Don’t compare yourself to other grad students. Everyone is on their own path, in their own field, and we will all get there eventually.
Want to get in touch with Samantha? She can be reached at: samantha.audrain <at>mail.utoronto.ca