Emotion representation in the brain

How does emotional information change how our brain functions?
Where do emotional signals get processed?
how do they change our internal representation of the world?

To answer these questions we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in concert with established behavioural paradigms and novel analytic techniques. We aim to leverage innovation in stimuli presentations (visual illusion, virtual auditory environments) to create naturalistic emotional experience in the scanner, and analyse out data through combined multivariate and univariate approaches.

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Autonomic outputs and physiolgical responding

Our response to emotional situations includes systematic changes to the physiological state of our body. In the ICE lab, we use psychophysiological monitoring (e.g., electrodermal activity, HR, etc) to characterize our body's response in times of stress or relaxation. Our recent work in this area has focused outlining the nuances in response caused by small body-localized threats.

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Influences of emotionally salient objects on spatial perceptions and behaviour

When we encounter something that provokes an emotional feeling, our perception of the world, and our abiity to act changes. Some objects start to hold our attention more than they may have before, while others fade out of our awareness. ICE research aims to determine how these emotional effects manifest in our perception and behaviour. Specifically, we look at how emotional information presented can change our spatial perception of the world.

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Virtual emotional environments

To create emotional situation that can accurately reflect situations we may encounter naturally in our world, ICE research uses audio and visual virtual environments. To date we have developed and implemented tools for personalized and semi-personalized auditory virtual worlds for use in MR scanning, and interrogated hthe efficacy of tablet-based procedural learning. Now, we are excited to be extending this work into immersive multisensory VR, kick starting a promising new avenue for our growing research program.

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