CARES Lab
at Georgetown University
.About Us:
.About Us:
The Clinical Aging and Relational Emotion Science Laboratory
(CARES lab) at Georgetown University investigates interpersonal emotional phenomena in connection with mental and physical health across the life course.
In the CARES lab, we address questions like:
In the CARES lab, we address questions like:
How do we share, understand, and influence others’ emotions in ways that affect their depressive symptoms and health trajectories?
How do social and emotional processes go awry in age-related neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases?
How can we intervene to improve social and emotional functioning and thereby promote healthy aging?
Our Research:
Our Research:
Our research bridges multiple domains of inquiry, drawing from clinical psychology, social and health psychology, affective neuroscience, and aging. To capture the multi-faceted nature of how emotions unfold during interactions and their proximal and distal effects, we employ multiple methods including self-report, naturalistic interactions, coding of nonverbal behaviors, autonomic nervous system physiology, eye-tracking, and structural and functional neuroimaging. To reflect the diverse nature of social relationships, we examine a number of different types of connections (e.g., close relationships, caregiving relationships, therapeutic relationships). To ensure our research informs interventions, we take a translational approach to research, expanding knowledge on basic interpersonal emotional processes and applying this knowledge to improve our understanding of psychopathology and its treatment.
Our research bridges multiple domains of inquiry, drawing from clinical psychology, social and health psychology, affective neuroscience, and aging. To capture the multi-faceted nature of how emotions unfold during interactions and their proximal and distal effects, we employ multiple methods including self-report, naturalistic interactions, coding of nonverbal behaviors, autonomic nervous system physiology, eye-tracking, and structural and functional neuroimaging. To reflect the diverse nature of social relationships, we examine a number of different types of connections (e.g., close relationships, caregiving relationships, therapeutic relationships). To ensure our research informs interventions, we take a translational approach to research, expanding knowledge on basic interpersonal emotional processes and applying this knowledge to improve our understanding of psychopathology and its treatment.
