Jennifer MacCormack, a graduate student in Social Psychology, received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute on Aging.
The purpose of the Kirschstein NRSA Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Award is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields. Research training is expected to enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist.
Under this fellowship, Jennifer will investigate how younger vs. older adults’ brains represent autonomic nervous system activity and interoception (body awareness), and in turn, what these neural age differences could mean for emotional aging. Ultimately, this work can offer crucial insights into aging mental health and well-being, delineating further biological pathways in the body and brain by which emotions change across the lifespan.