Welcome to the 

Emotion, Mind & Body Lab

The EMBody Lab investigates biopsychosocial mechanisms in the development of emotion dysregulation and related outcomes (e.g., depression, suicide). Within this area, we are especially interested in understanding the costs, benefits, and foundations--social-cognitive, biological, and developmental--of emotion awareness. Our work draws on multiple emotion theories, with emphasis on embodied emotion and interoception (upward body-to-brain communication). We integrate different methodologies (e.g., behavioral, psycholinguistic, biological) to measure emotion experience and the interconnected processes that give rise to it.

A major current focus is on the effects of stressful experiences on adolescents' interoception, and the role of interoception in adolescents' suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

We ask questions like...

How do you know which emotion you are feeling? 

What happens to your experience when you label it with words?

How and when is identifying emotions helpful for adaptation? Can identifying emotions be counterproductive? 

How is the body involved in generating subjective emotion experience?

How do social environments (e.g., stressful experiences, emotion socialization) affect body-to-brain communication? Do these changes in body-to-brain communication help explain the development of mood disorders and related outcomes?


 

As a brand new lab, we've got lots going on! 

Way to go, Dharmayu!

July, 2024: The great news continues... One of our longest standing lab members, undergraduate Health Science student Dharmayu Desai, has just won the Bachelor of Health Sciences Research Excellence Award for 2024! Awarded annually to only two graduates from the HSCI program at Queen's, this award is recognizing Dharm for his exceptional directed research project that was part of our lab's Suicide Films study. He received the award at his Convocation reception this month. Dharmayu heads to Medical School in the fall... look out, world!

Congratulations to our CGS winners!

June, 2024: We are so proud of all of our lab members... and this month, our graduate students Mayah Palmer and Prakash Thambipillai both won prestigious Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)!!! Mayah's CGS-M award will support her Master's research on the physiological and emotional toll of anti-Black discrimination in academic settings. Prakash's CGS-D award will support his doctoral research for three years on emotional flexibility during emerging adulthood among 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. 

Terrific work, Jay!

September, 2023: EMBody Lab thesis student Jason Burns just became a regional winner for the Global Undergraduate Awards! This means that his thesis, completed in our lab, was rated the top psychology thesis for the entire US and Canada region! Jay used archival data from our collaborators to examine how the hearts of preschoolers respond beat-by-beat in the first 5 seconds after their mother enters the room. He found that preschoolers' heart responses depended on whether mothers had features of BPD. Jay is off to a Research Coordinator position in Boston now and will be working on submitting this fascinating study for publication soon... stay tuned! 

SSHSRC Insight Development Grant... yep :)

July, 2023: Whoohoo! We got word this month that the lab was awarded an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). These funds will support a longitudinal study on early life adversity and the development of interoception (brain-body communication) and emotion abilities in adolescence. 

We are lucky to work with you, Mayah!

March 10, 2023: Our incredible lab coordinator, Mayah K. Palmer, just won the university's Black Scholars Excellence in Mentoring Award! This award recognizes extraordinary efforts toward making our community more inclusive. It is one small way Queen's can begin to show thanks for the disproportionate service burden placed implicitly on Black scholars, who often perform thankless labor--formally and informally--to make spaces around them safer. Even while pursuing her own goals, Mayah has worked tirelessly to care for all around her, including by supporting other marginalized members of our lab and advocating for inclusive practices in research. Mayah will be honoured at an awards ceremony later this month!

Did you miss our open house for prospective grad students?

Nov 5, 2022: As part of our annual virtual open house on Nov 5, I held a break-out meeting to orient prospective graduate students to my lab. The purpose of this session was to answer your questions about the lab and the application, and to share some tips for evaluating my lab's fit for your goals (and your fit with us). For more information on applying to work with me, specifically, see Join the Lab

What an hono(u)r

Sept 21, 2022: What a privilege to receive a major grant from the John R. Evans Leader's Fund (JELF) through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI)! Vera wrote this grant during some very late nights, while struggling with work-life balance while on maternity leave. She could not be more excited at this result. Very many thanks to the terrifically helpful team at the Queen's University grants office for their help securing this award. The grant will help pay for our lab construction and support some of the state-of-the-art equipment we will be getting for measuring the heart-brain connection. See this feature in the Queen's Gazette.

It's happening!

Sept 9, 2022: We had an amazing launch party under the trees! Blue skies, donuts, and smiling faces. Very exciting to have such a dynamic group helping me jump-start this new lab. Thanks to a productive summer, we are ready to get started with several new projects. We strive to be an inclusive bunch of curious people learning new skills together (while we study interoception). more photos :)

We're growing...

May 25, 2022: The EMBody Lab welcomes its first full-time staff! Selena Zou and Katelyn Battad joined the lab as summer interns through the Summer Work Experience Program (SWEP) at Queen's. These exceptional people took a running start, and in one short week have made huge strides in setting up our upcoming projects. Vera is beyond thrilled for their energy and support. Learn more about Kaleyn and Selena on our People page, and stay tuned for more exciting additions to our team, coming soon!  

Winter is here!

Dec 23, 2021: Wishing everyone a happy and healthy season. May you have access to the COVID shots and tests you need, and may you enjoy some time with your loved ones if you are lucky enough to be seeing them this year. 

(If you are wondering about the status of your graduate application, they've only JUST been circulated to faculty, so I have only just begun reviewing them. I'll be in touch with interview invitations in the New Years.)

Queen's Psychology Virtual Open House

Nov 6, 2021: Apply to Queen's! Learn more about our graduate programs in psychology at Queen's, at the upcoming Virtual Open House, November 6th from 10:30-12:30 (EST). Info on the open house is here, and you can register here. For more about applying specifically to the EMBody Lab, see here.

Welcome, baby!

Aug 14, 2021: Lots of new undertakings these days... No only is there a brand new lab in the making, but also Vera's family is growing. Baby #2 has arrived safe and sound, which means that Vera's year-long maternity leave has officially begun (thank you, Canada! :::hard stare at countries without paid parental leave:::). Anyone joining the EMBody Lab can expect open discussion about the work-life dilemma, in all its sneaky disguises. 

Lab design is underway!

Aug 4, 2021: Today Vera met the fabulous folks at Queen's Facilities Management--a designer and two construction experts--to begin planning the EMBody Lab space on the 4th floor of Humphrey Hall. It's going to be quite an overhaul! Two former animal labs will be combined & transformed into a bright, cheerful suite for humans, containing cardiovascular, EEG, and behavioral testing rooms, student offices and computer spaces, and more. Can't wait to nail down the layout and get started on construction!

Hello, Kingston

June 20, 2021: Vera and family crossed the border into Canada and arrived in Kingston. Fourteen days later, having survived the mandatory immigration quarantine (& planted a late veggie garden!), they started exploring this completely charming city--waterfront, restaurants, and so, so many parks. The summer in Kingston is idyllic... Eager to see what the other seasons will bring!

Queen's University is located on Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. 

As a newcomer to Canada and this region, Dr. Vine is learning about Ontario's colonial history, what this land acknowledgement means, and how to move beyond acknowledgement to action that supports tangible reparations to the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, and other Indigenous communities.