News — Virginia Affect & Interoception Laboratory

Congratulations to incoming VAIL PhD student Tehya Drummond on receiving an NSF GRFP Honorable Mention for her work on “A Network Neuroscience Approach to the Role of Interoception in Risky Decisions”!

The VAIL welcomes new PhD students Emma Stephenson and Tehya Drummond who will join us in August 2024! Emma plans to study the role of interoception in social affective processes and wellbeing, including across the lifespan and diverse populations. Tehya plans to study interoception and its relation to risk-taking and decision-making, including as related to brain-body pathways and health disparities.
Dr. MacCormack enjoyed a wonderful visit with the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University, where she gave a Departmental Colloquium talk on “The Visceral Mind: The Role of the Body and Interoception in Affect.”
Congratulations to PhD student Jingrun Lin and undergraduate research assistant Grace Allen on receiving a Double Hoo Award together from UVA which will support the development of a novel social exploration and risk-taking task. Awesome work!
Congratulations to Gianna Latorre on receiving a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award from UVA which will support her Neuroscience Distinguished Majors Project in the VAIL looking at hunger’s impact on acute stress!
Dr. MacCormack presented a keynote talk on some new work in the VAIL on “Stressing Me Out! Does Hunger Exacerbate Physiological and Psychological Stress?” at the 2024 UVA Behavioral Science Across Grounds Conference.

Dr. MacCormack received a collaborative research grant from the NSF to study “The Role of Stress in Human Crowd Dynamics during Emergency Situations” alongside collaborators Dr. Nicole Abaid in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, Dr. Sachit Butail in Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois, and Dr. Alethea Barbaro in Mathematical Physics at TU Delft. With these data, the VAIL will be able to address questions about the roles of interoceptive and social sensitivity in group stress contagion and physiological synchrony.
The VAIL welcomes new PhD student Lauren Beliveau who joined us in August 2023! Lauren plans to study the role of interoception in self-regulation and wellbeing across the lifespan.
Dr. MacCormack was interviewed in a recent Scientific American article on how “Art May Be in the Body of the Beholder.”
Dr. MacCormack is giving the keynote address at Shepherd University’s 14th annual Aging Well Workshop, this year focused on interoception. Her talk will discuss “Interoception for Emotional Health and Well-Being Across the Lifespan.” Come join on May 9th 2023 either in-person or virtually! https://agingwellworkshop.totalcamps.com/

See a new interview with Dr. MacCormack on Understanding Interoception, the Sixth Sense in Psychology Today on Dr. Marianna Pogosyan’s “Between Cultures” blog. The piece was selected as a special feature for the front page’s “Essential Reads”!
As of August 2022, the Virginia Affect and Interoception Lab’s doors are now officially open! We have moved into our beautiful new laboratory rooms in the recently renovated Gilmer Hall and can’t wait to start collecting data.

We are excitedly preparing to open our doors officially in August 2022. Stay tuned!