Does feeling hungry make you more irritable or does feeling sick and tired make it more likely you will feel sad? Does it matter what you believe about your body? Can awareness of your bodily sensations alter your perceptions and choices? How does biological aging of your body and brain ultimately shape your everyday feelings and reactions to the world around you? Evidence from psychology, neuroscience, and physiology reveals that most aspects of life--including emotions, social perceptions, decision-making, and well-being--can be shaped by the physical states of our bodies.

Dr. Jennifer MacCormack is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Her work seeks to illuminate the body’s power to shape our social affective lives, drawing on a rich interdisciplinary toolkit across experimental social psychology, psychophysiology, functional neuroimaging, affective science, interoceptive science, and lifespan development.