Gemma earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from the University of Barcelona in 2017. She continued her academic journey at the same institution, completing a Master’s in Research in Behaviour and Cognition. After her master’s, she gained two years of valuable experience as a research assistant before beginning her PhD at the Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit. In 2020, she embarked on her doctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells and Dr. Laura Ferreri.
Her thesis explored how music-induced pleasure and curiosity influence musical reward and long-term memory, combining experiments conducted in both controlled laboratory environments and naturalistic, real-world contexts.
During her PhD, Gemma collaborated with major cultural institutions such as Sónar+D and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano to carry out large-scale experiments with 150 and 700 participants respectively. These collaborations not only enriched her research but also helped bridge the gap between science and society. In this spirit, she actively engaged in scientific outreach, taking part in initiatives such as the Three Minute Thesis competition and contributing to the radio program Longitud de Onda on Radio Clásica (RTVE), where she shared the latest findings in music and neuroscience in a clear and engaging way.
The role of curiosity and absorption in regulating music reward:
evidence from laboratory and natural settings
Doctoral Programme in Cervell, Cognició i Conducta.
Supervisors: Antoni Rodríguez Fornells and Laura Ferreri
The thesis will be defended in:
Facultat de Psicologia – Universitat de Barcelona
Campus Mundet
Pg.Vall d’Hebron 171
Edifici de Ponent