Professor of Psychology  Neuroscience & Behaviour  McMaster University

Member  McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery & Study  Graduate Program  McMaster University

Member  School of Computational Science and Engineering  Graduate Program  McMaster University

Adjunct Member  Centre for Vision Research  York University

On the time course of attentional focusing in older adults

A robust and representative lower bound on object processing speed in humans

Comparing face processing strategies between typically-developed observers and observers with autism using sub-sampled-pixels presentation in response classification technique

Inversion leads to quantitative, not qualitative, changes in face processing

Perception of partly occluded objects: A microgenetic analysis.

Dr. Allison Sekuler completed her BA, double majoring in Mathematics and Psychology at Pomona College, 1986; and her PhD in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, 1990. She was the first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2001-2011), and is a Professor, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University.

Her current research is funded by NSERC and CIHR, and focuses on vision science, aging, cognitive neuroscience, neural plasticity, learning, face perception, and neurotechnology. Dr. Sekuler has conducted foundational, applied, and clinical research (including research in schizophrenia and autism).

Dr. Sekuler is also an expert in broader areas of higher education, including interdisciplinarity, internationalization, professional development training, and equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EID); and she has won numerous national and international awards for research, teaching and leadership. 

Dr. Sekuler has over a decade of experience in University-level administration, serving as McMaster’s first Associate Vice-President (Research), as Associate Vice-President and Dean of Graduate Studies, and twice as the interim Vice-President (Research). Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Sekuler spearheaded McMaster's unique Indigenous Undergraduate Summer Research Scholar Program; supported interdisciplinary academic and research programs, including creation of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute; and led development of MyGradSkills.ca, a free online professional skills training program for graduate students. She currently is leading development of @mentorsWISE, a virtual mentoring program for women in science and engineering.

Dr. Sekuler is committed to knowledge translation, serving as President of the Royal Canadian Institute for the advancement of science; creating video columns for Discovery Channel; developing public outreach 
programs, such as Science in the City; popularizing international programs like Café Scientifique and the 3 Minute Thesis in Canada; and co-founding the successful #ScienceSunday platform.

She has served on and chaired provincial, federal, and international grant review panels and boards related to her research and to education. She currently serves on the Board of Governors for Hillfield Strathallan College; the Governing Board for the Ontario Council of Universities (co-Chair, Academic Colleagues); and NSERC's Committee on Discovery Research (Chair, Fellowships & Scholarships).

Aging

Face and Object Recognition

Perceptual Organization

Pattern Vision

Motion Perception

Autism

Learning

Neural Plasticity

Neuroimaging

Neurotechnology

Higher Education

Professional Development Training 

Women in Science and Engineering

Interdisiplinarity

Internationalization

Graduate Studies

English

French

German

McMaster University Faculty Profile

McMaster University projects awarded $3.3 million to address auto industry, nuclear safety

McMaster breaking barriers for indigenous students

Faculty jobs are rare, but Canada still needs its PhDs

Training the brain to sharpen your eyesight

McMaster aims to grow number of indigenous grad students in Canada

President & Chief Scientist, CABHI and Baycrest Academy for Research and Education at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; Sandra A Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience

Prof. Allison Sekuler at McMaster University studies facial recognition and why some people better at recognizing faces than others.

READ THE WHOLE STORY: 
http://research2reality.com/videos/facial-recognition/

DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT:
http://research2reality.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/The-Science-of-Facial-Recognition-Interview-with-Prof.-Allison-Sekuler.pdf

The Science of Facial Recognition – Interview with Prof. Allison Sekuler

Three Minute Thesis - Dr. Allison Sekuler

This video shows part of the Launch of the Performance Cycle on Student Success at McMaster University, led by Dr. Catherine Graham of the Theatre & Film Studies program in McMaster's School of the Arts. Its core purpose is to use creative research techniques to facilitate a public conversation about what success means and what conditions need to exist for students to achieve it.  Leading members of the McMaster community shared their stories of success in a public demonstration of the technique on September 30, 2013. Audience members then responded to each of these stories by finishing the sentence:  "This is the story of the person who...." 

This was followed by a demonstration of the image theatre techniques Theatre & Film Studies students will use to turn these images and stories into scenes for next year's production of IRIS, the play seen by over 4,000 students in their first week at McMaster.  

How would you respond to these stories?  Comments are encouraged!

McMaster's IRIS Performance Cycle 2014 - Allison Sekuler

"The amazing, changing, aging brain." 
Fri Oct 14, 2011 
Gilmour Hall, McMaster University

Discover Psychology - Dr. Allison Sekuler

Professor Allison Sekuler at McMaster University studies how the brain reorganizes itself as we get older.

READ THE FULL STORY: http://research2reality.com/videos/aging-brain/

DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT: http://research2reality.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The-Aging-Brain-Interview-with-Prof.-Allison-Sekuler.pdf

The Aging Brain - Interview with Prof. Allison Sekuler

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Media-Media/ForMedia-PourMedias/BAE-TAP_eng.asp

Presenter: Allison B. Sekuler, Professor, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University

Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011

Place: Ottawa, Ontario

NSERC Presents 2 Minutes with Allison Sekuler

The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) hosted a CIHR Café Scientifique at McMaster Innovation Park on Jan. 30, 2013. The event -- "Use it or lose it: Secrets of a healthy brain" -- provided the public with an opportunity to interact with experts in the field of aging and participate in a discussion on the topic of brain health.

The Café featured a panel of leading Canadian health researchers including Christopher Patterson, Parminder Raina and Allison Sekuler of McMaster University; and Kathy Pichora-Fuller of the University of Toronto Mississauga.

Support for this event was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Aging.

Part 2: Use it or lose it: Secrets of a healthy brain -- Dr. Allison Sekuler

The McGurk Effect

Watch the speaker in the following video clip, paying special attention to her mouth. What sounds do you hear her saying? The clip will be repeated. The second time, listen to it with your eyes closed. Now what do you hear? The sounds in both clips are the same, but what you hear depends on whether you see the speaker moving her mouth or not. This is an example of the McGurk effect, first described by McGurk and McDonald in 1976 ("Hearing lips and seeing voices." Nature, 264(5588): 746-748.  

To prove to yourself that there is no trick, watch the whole video again, but this time close your eyes during the first clip, and keep them open (watching the speaker's mouth) during the second. Enjoy!

Video made by Allison Sekuler for #ScienceSunday -- find us on Google+

The McGurk Effect: An audiovisual illusion

*Time markings below - click on "show more"*

Is there life on other planets? And if so, how can astrobiology help us find it, and what do we expect it to be like? #ScienceSunday Hangout featuring Pamela Gay (CosmoQuest), Chris McKay (NASA Ames), Ralph Pudritz (Director, Origins Institute and Prof. Physics and Astronomy, McMaster U), Jon Stone (aka Doc Roc; co-Director, Origins Institute and Prof. Biology, McMaster U), Alyssa Cobb (McMaster graduate student, Physics and Astronomy, with specialization in Astrobioloty). Moderated by Allison Sekuler (co-curator #ScienceSunday and Prof./Dean Graduate Studies, McMaster U).

Skip the first part when we're waiting to start, unless you want to listen to the groovy music :)

7:45 Welcome and introductions

9:28 Panelists answer question: Is there life on other planets, and if so, how can we find it?

13:29 Would Europa be the next logical place to look for life? Panelists debate advantages of looking on Europa or to continue looking on Mars.

17:49 The Prime Directive: Have people thought about the ethics of contaminating/disturbing other worlds and other lifeforms?

20:49 What environments can we explore more on Earth to develop the skills we need to explore extraterrestrial environments? Discussion of extremophiles here on Earth, and technology being developed to explore extreme environments.

24:08 Would we expect extraterrestrial life to look like if we do find it (could we have fish people? or just micro-organisms?)? Discussion of the biological markers and signals we are looking for in trying to detect life.

26:35 Is the SETI sort of approach a useful one to find life on other planets? or are there better approaches? Brings in a discussion of the Fermi paradox: If there is intelligent life out there already, why aren't they looking for us?

28:53 How many planets (or moons) might be out there already that would be good places to look? Discussion of the Kepler telescope - looking for exoplanets, and how habitable zones might there be?

31:35 Would detection of gases like those we see on Earth (e.g., oxygen, methane, CO2) be a good marker of which planets are habitable - life on other planets?

33:25 Does evolution necessarily have to follow one path? or even if the starting points are the same, might we end up evolving in different directions? Would we expect all living forms to use oxygen etc. the same way we do?

36:45 Discussion of recent results from Mars, suggesting that it was once teeming with water - pointing towards past habitability.

37:58 What can we do to keep from contaminating our own planet when we're bringing back samples from elsewhere. Suggestion that maybe we are all Martians.... 

39:36 If we find evidence of life elsewhere, how do we know the life comes from there and not from us (or somewhere else)? Possibility that one could look at differences in amino acids to gain information, or bases that make up DNA, or even the handedness of the molecules.

43:21 How do we use information from meteorites to get information about extraterrestrial life? 

45:00 How common is it that we get struck by meteorites that might give us useful information about extraterrestrial life? Noted that how you collect the samples is key - need to avoid contamination if possible. Discussion of 1996 meteorite, which some researchers suggested gave evidence of life on Mars - noted that the result is unconfirmed and controversial.

47:26 Discussion of the recent Russian meteorite: Is it the kind of meteorite that can tell us anything about extraterrestrial life, or just a "boring" meteorite? Turns out to be boring - only about 4% of all meteorites have the kind of organic material we're looking for. 

48:28 What's the role of the media in shaping our views of astrobiology and what we expect to find in terms of extraterrestrial life?

51:13 Is it fair to describe evolution of intelligent life as "hard"? Is it just luck that we ended up with intelligent life here on Earth?

53:11 Update from Chris McKay (NASA) on the Mars missions. Searching for organics is a key part of the mission. 

55:19 Are there any missions planned to explore asteroids? Yes, but the mission is not to search for life, but in understanding their dynamics and how to deflect them.  More of a resource than a biological issue.

56:54 How likely that we'll make more missions to other places exploring life in the future? Mars is hogging all the attention right now.

58:13 Role of collaboration - across nations and across disciplines. Science as an international activity, and importance of interdisciplinarity/transdisciplinarity in solving the big problems.

1:00:56 Will it be possible in our lifetimes to find extraterrestrial life? Answer: a qualified yes, with a big spoonful of "I hope so!"

1:02:35 Will Mars be the smoking gun indicating life? Also discussion of Enceladus, and discussion of whether life might be underground.

1:04:10 Wrap up and thanks.

Extraterrestrial Life: #SciSun Hangout on Air

Courtesy of Dr. Allison Sekuler, Associate Vice-President and Dean of Graduate Studies.

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