Curriculum Vitae

Last updated: Summer 2026.

General Information


Full name: Elizabeth Day Lawrence

Languages: English (Native), Finnish (A1)


Education


Master's of Music and Science at the University of Jyväskylä (JYU), in progress, 2026–2028


BSc Psychology (Hon) at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), 2024–2026



AFA in Music at Nashville State Community College (NSCC), 2022–2023

  • Summa Cum Laude
  • Honors Project (Developmental Psych): Conceptual Metaphor, Language, and Musicality Across the Lifespan


Experience


Undergraduate RA and Honors Thesis Student: MTSU Brain and Language Lab, 2024–2026

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Psychology Department, Brain and Language Lab


Supported Dr. Magne’s Brain and Language Lab in conducting multiple ongoing studies exploring the neurocognitive connections between rhythm perception and language skills, particularly in the areas of prosodic sensitivity and EEG-based analyses of language processing. Contributed to several aspects of data collection and materials development: 


  • Led an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional collaboration with the VUMC Music Cognition Lab for an Honors Thesis project, co-mentored by Drs. Magne (MTSU) and Srishti Nayak (VUMC)
  • Trained in the use of a portable EEG headset (MUSE) for measuring neural speech envelope tracking and supported experimental procedures and data collection
  • Trained in statistical approaches such as linear regression and mediation analyses in psychology



Research Coordinator and Honors Thesis Student: VUMC Music Cognition Lab, 2024–2026

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Department of Otolaryngology, Music Cognition Lab


Supported Dr. Nayak's NIH-funded study on musicality, hearing, and genetics (MyHearinG), investigating musicality as a resilience factor in age-related hearing loss:


  • Played a key role in launching the study: restructured IRB submissions, designed REDCap instruments, and optimized recruitment workflows
  • Built a Notion database to streamline team communication and study operations
  • Led recruitment and scheduling (N=84) and initiated a follow-up study (N=75)
  • Gained applied experience in R for data cleaning, analysis, and visualization


Also supported Dr. Lense's Music and Social-Emotional Development (MSED) group, studying the impact of musical behavior on child/caregiver social-emotional development:


  • Coordinated longitudinal data collection using LENA audio recorders and REDCap
  • Conducted real-time behavioral coding and double-coded ADOS assessments
  • Administered naturalistic music- and play-based intervention protocols


Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

Listed in reversed chronological order.

National

Institutional

  1. MTSU Provost’s Award Recipient, 2026
  2. MTSU Outstanding Fourth Year Student Award ($250), 2026
  3. Poster Award: Scholar’s Week, 3rd Place Undergraduate, 2026
  4. Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship – Institutional Alternate ($250), 2026
  5. Society for Neuroscience 2025 Access Award ($100), Society for the Neurobiology of Language (SNL), 2025
  6. Osher Re-entry Scholarship Recipient ($4,000), 2025–2026
  7. Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Scholarship Recipient ($2,000), 2025–2026
  8. Alton Julian Endowed Scholarship Recipient ($2,000), 2025–2026
  9. Buchanan Honors Transfer Fellowship ($14,000), 2025–2026
  10. Undergraduate Research Grant (URECA) Recipient ($1,000), 2025
  11. Jones Foundation Honors Scholarship Conference Travel Award ($1,473), 2025
  12. Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Recipient ($2,000), 2024
  13. Distinguished Student Leadership in Music, 2024



Invited Talks

Guest Lecturer: Department of Psychology, Randolph University, Aug 2025

Presented original research on music and language skills in older adults, engaging students in discussions on experimental design, stimuli, and preliminary findings to Dr. Sara Beck’s PSYC-3325A (Psychology of Music) class.


Academic Interests

  • Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
  • Neural mechanisms of auditory and temporal processing, sensory memory, working memory
  • Music and Language
  • Musical rhythm skills and prosody (lexical stress) sensitivity, how music training influences prosody, and the ways that these perceptual abilities shape speech-in-noise recognition 
  • Hierarchical Temporal Processing in Music and Language
  • How temporal and rhythmic processing interacts with naturalistic communication, successful information exchange, and social-emotional development


Other Interests