Emotions impact the way we move, and the way we move impacts our emotional reactions. In this lab, we study how emotions impact the attentional and motor mechanisms that underlie the actions of elite athletes and other performers, as well as clinical populations of individuals with emotional and movement disorders. Our projects have contributed novel insight concerning the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral manifestations of mind-body interactions. We hope that continued work in this area will inform recommendations for improving the effectiveness of interventions for those who suffer from emotion and movement disorders, while holding performance enhancement implications for individuals such as firefighters, surgeons, athletes, military personnel and others who are consistently challenged to perform under emotionally charged situations.
Research Highlights:
- Currently investigating how emotions interact with attention and motor function in healthy and disease / disorder populations.
- Conducting studies to determine emotion regulation strategies that can be used to improve motor performance within emotional environments
- Recent publications in Journal of Applied Biomechanics, Emotion, Health Psychology, and Human Movement Science
- Current funding from NIH