Wendy Berry Mendes

My lab focuses on how the brain and body respond to emotion and stress states using a variety of approaches including autonomic nervous system physiology, neuroendocrinology, and facial EMG. Some recent research examines the influence of emotion on decision-making, how discrimination and stigmatization affect physical and mental health, how dyads and groups influence each other in a process called affect contagion, and how stress affects physiology and cognition across the life span. We approach these questions in multiple contexts including the lab, daily life, and field settings from classrooms to operating rooms. Our primary goal is to better understand the bidirectional influences of the mind and body from a social psychological lens.