EJN: We talked about big or surprising findings, but those kinds
of results take a lot of hard work and a lot of time. What is your
favorite thing about the day-to-day of being a neuroscientist that keeps
you going?
TRAINOR: I have to say what I enjoy most is working with my graduate
students and postdocs - on an individual basis, and also in our lab
meetings. I have people in my lab from a number of different
backgrounds: some have a music background, some a neuroscience
background, and others come from computer science or computational
fields. They all bring different perspectives to a problem. Especially
during lab meetings, when people present what they’re proposing to do,
or are interpreting the results of their data analyses, we are able to
bring all these different perspectives to the table. I find that so
exciting because these days the complexity of what we’re trying to study
requires this multidisciplinary lens. What I enjoy the most in those
conversations is trying to figure out the answer to some question, and
being able to look at it from all these different perspectives. The
field has really changed in this way. Forty years ago, people tended to
work more in their own little areas. I find it really exciting how
multidisciplinary we’ve become.