Abstract: Music and rhythm are ubiquitous in early childhood. Caregivers engage their young children with infant-directed song, which serves to attract infants' attention and modulate their arousal, as well as strengthen the infant-caregiver bond. Our experimental and applied research highlight the ways in which rhythm and song scaffold social engagement in early childhood in typical and autistic development. Translating these basic science findings into practice, we consider the dimensions of musical experiences that support social engagement in children and caregivers and the integration of these principles into evidence-based interventions. Our research reveals how musical experiences shape social-emotional engagement at the level of the individual, dyad, and community group. Given the essential role of the social environment in learning and development, musical experiences provide a rich, multifaceted context for supporting young children and their caregivers.

Bio: Miriam Lense, PhD, is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she co-directs the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab. Her research considers the intersection of human musicality with health and development through developing and advancing music component frameworks, investigating mechanistic processes, and designing clinical interventions. A licensed clinical psychologist, her research particularly focuses on social, emotional, and cognitive processes in children with and without developmental differences such as autism and their caregivers/families. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Endowment for the Arts, GRAMMY Foundation, Academy of Country Music Lifting Lives Foundation, and a Renée Fleming Neuroarts Investigator Award.

Trainee Events and Initiatives

Trainee Discord: If you are interested in joining, here is a new link, which will not expire (hopefully): https://discord.gg/VHbPF3bw. We will be using the Discord fairly frequently leading up to the conference, so keep an eye on it!

Pre-Conference Meet-Up: Don’t forget that there will be a pre-conference meetup on the afternoon of July 21 st! This will also be the kickoff for our SMPC Bingo, so if you are going to be attending the conference and would like to add a fun fact about yourself to the card, here is the link to send one in: https://forms.gle/fDmkDSMajihAv8qY8.

Trainee outing: Complete the poll about the potential trainee outing: https://forms.gle/1ppjcWtx3qtr3JvJ7. We’ve included an estimate of how much each of these would cost by each option. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out, either on the Discord or at traineerep@musicperception.org.

Guide for Presenters

Thank you again for sharing your exciting work with us at SMPC 2026! Please make a note of the following logistical information about presentations.

Talks and Special Sessions/Panels: 

Please plan for a 20-minute time slot (approximately 15 minutes for your presentation and 5 minutes for questions). For panels and special sessions, please plan for an hour-long time slot. The schedule of talks can be found here.

Note for virtual talks: Please prepare your 15-minute talk as a video (i.e., on Zoom or Powerpoint). We plan to play your video presentation, then have you on video chat to answer questions live. We hope this will mitigate potential technical issues involved with live presentation. Please upload your presentation video to this Google Drive by July 15 for smooth integration into the conference program.

Posters:

Posters can be a maximum size of 48 inches wide and 36 inches tall. Please find your presentation time here.

Note for virtual posters:We are working on a schedule for virtual posters, which will be presented on the online space Gather. Please send a .jpg or .png of your poster to haley.kragness@bucknell.du by July 15 for smooth integration into the conference program.

Please let us know as early as possible if you notice any issues with the schedule or if you have any questions. Looking forward to learning more from each of you!