I am an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Group, Faculty of Science, at Ontario Tech University, where I lead the Affective Data Science Lab (ADSL<https://affectivedatascience.com/>). My research centers on emotion: how it is expressed through facial expressions, vocal patterns, and physical changes, and the processes that occur in our bodies and brains when we experience emotion. My work integrates experimental methods and quantitative modeling to provide new insights into emotion theory. I am also deeply interested in the rehabilitation of facial and vocal deficits in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
I have had a longstanding relationship with the SMART Lab. Beginning in 2009, I collaborated with Thompson and Russo on our first publication examining the effects of singing on emotional facial expressions. Since then, Dr. Russo and I have co-authored numerous journal articles. From 2011 to 2015, I was a postdoctoral fellow in the SMART Lab, where we developed the Ryerson Audio-Visual Database of Emotional Speech and Song (RAVDESS<https://psychlabs.torontomu.ca/smartlab/resources/speech-song-database-ravdess/>). From 2021 to 2024, I served as a Theme Leader in the SingWell Project for Parkinson’s disease. Most recently, Dr. Russo (CI) and I (PI) are collaborating on a multi-site SSHRC Insight Grant (2024-2029), aimed at reducing the impact of emotion recognition bias on Canadians.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Papers:
1. Good, A., Earle, E., Vezer, E., Gilmore, S., Livingstone, S. R., & Russo, F. A. (2023). Community Choir Improves Vocal Production Measures in Individuals Living with Parkinson’s Disease. Journal of Voice. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.12.001
2. Chang, A., Kragness, H., Livingstone, S. R., Bosnyak, D. J., & Trainor, L. J. (2019). Body sway reflects joint emotional expression in music ensemble performance. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 205. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36358-4
3. Swarbrick, D., Bosnyak, D. J., Livingstone, S. R., Bansal, J., Woolhouse, M. H., Marsh-Rollo, S., & Trainor, L. J. (2019). How Live Music Moves Us: Head Movement Differences in Audiences to Live Versus Recorded Music. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(2682). doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02682
4. Livingstone, S. R., & Russo, F. A. (2018). The Ryerson Audio-Visual Database of Emotional Speech and Song (RAVDESS): A dynamic, multimodal set of facial and vocal expressions in North American English. PLoS ONE, 13(5), e0196391. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196391
5. Chang, A., Livingstone, S. R., Bosnyak, D. J., & Trainor, L. J. (2017). Body sway reflects leadership in joint music performance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201617657. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617657114
6. Livingstone, S. R., Vezer, E., McGarry, L. M., Lang, A. E., & Russo, F. A. (2016). Deficits in the mimicry of facial expressions in Parkinson’s Disease. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00780
7. Livingstone, S. R., & Palmer, C. (2016). Head movements encode emotions during speech and song. Emotion, 16, 365-380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000106. Profiled in The Atlantic and NBC Today.
8. Livingstone, S. R., Thompson, W. F., Wanderley, M. M., & Palmer, C. (2015). Common cues to emotion in the dynamic facial expressions of speech and song. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68, 952-970. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014.971034
9. Livingstone, S. R., Choi, D. H., & Russo, F. A. (2014). The influence of vocal training and acting experience on measures of voice quality and emotional genuineness in male singers. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00156
10. Livingstone, S. R. (2013). The kinematics of musical expression in the spatiotemporal dimension. Empirical Musicology Review, 8, 124-127. http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/emr.v8i2.3931
11. Chan, L. P., Livingstone, S. R., & Russo, F. A. (2013). Facial mimicry in response to song. Music Perception, 30, 361-367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/mp.2013.30.4.361
12. Livingstone, S. R., Palmer, C., & Schubert, E. (2012). Emotional response to musical repetition. Emotion, 12, 552-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023747
13. Livingstone, S. R., Muhlberger, R., Brown, A. R., & Thompson, W.F. (2010). Changing musical emotion: A computational rule system for modifying score and performance. Computer Music Journal, 34, 41-64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/comj.2010.34.1.41
14. Thompson, W.F., Russo, F.A., & Livingstone, S. R. (2010). Facial expressions of singers influence perceived pitch relations. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17, 317-322. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.3.317
15. Livingstone, S.R., Thompson, W.F., & Russo, F.A. (2009). Facial expressions and emotional singing: A study of perception and production with motion capture and electromyography. Music Perception, 26, 475-488. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/mp.2009.26.5.475
16. Livingstone, S. R. & Thompson, W. F. (2009). The emergence of music from the Theory of Mind. Musicae Scientiae, Special Issue 2009/10 “Music and Evolution”, 83-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1029864909013002061
17. Livingstone, S. R., Muhlberger, R., Brown, A. R., Loch, A. (2007). Controlling Musical Emotionality: An Affective Computational Architecture for Influencing Musical Emotion. Digital Creativity, 18, 43-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14626260701253606
18. Livingstone, S. R. & Thompson, W. F. (2006). Multimodal affective interaction: A comment on musical origins. Music Perception, 24, 89-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/mp.2006.24.1.89