Can you remember receiving your high school diploma, your first kiss?
Very likely you are not only able to remember these emotional events, but you also picture them very vividly in your mind.
Emotions have a profound impact on what we keep in mind and make us re-experience events vividly in our memory. Why is this the case? Our central research questions are
- How do emotion and stress influence how memories are formed and retrieved?
- How do emotion and stress modulate learning and memory processes across the life span?
- How can we modify the emotion’s influence on learning and memory processes?
Our lab addresses these questions with an innovative combination of scientific methods including behavioral paradigms, immersive virtual reality, stressors, psychophysiology, pharmacology and brain imaging in children, adolescents, young, middle- aged and older adults.