Hannah Merseal
Hello! I’m a postdoctoral researcher at the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, where I study creativity, the arts, and human flourishing using network science and neuroimaging. I care deeply about open, reproducible, and equity-minded research, and I’m especially interested in how good measurement and evidence can help people and organizations make better decisions.
Dr. Hannah Merseal is a cognitive neuroscientist and postdoctoral researcher at the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. She studies the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying creativity across domains using functional neuroimaging and network science methods. Hannah earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Pennsylvania State University and B.A. in music and psychology from Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She has received awards from the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (inaugural Sarah A. Burgess Award, 2023; Dissertation Award, 2025) and the Sonophilia Foundation (Outstanding Young Scientist in Creativity Research, 2021). As Co-Chair of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity's Organizing Committee and Associate Editor of Creativity Research Journal, Hannah is committed to open, reproducible research that bridges cognitive science with real-world insights that support thoughtful, human-centered decision-making.
Interests
Creativity and creative cognition; neuroaesthetics; music cognition; functional neuroimaging (fMRI); brain network science; open and reproducible science; measurement and individual differences; arts-based approaches to human flourishing; translating cognitive science research for real-world decision-making; equity-minded research practices.