Emmanuelle Schoonjans

I am a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences at the GHEP lab, working on a FWO-funded project. Prior to that, I completed in parallel a master’s 120 in biomedical sciences (research track – neurosciences option) and a master’s 60 in philosophy, at the UCLouvain. During my master’s, my thesis and the coupled one-year research internship focused of the effect of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on attentional networks and I completed a three-month research internship in the GHEP lab, working on various projects centered on psychophysiological reactivity and recovery from stress and negative affect.

During my PhD, supervised by Pr. Dr. Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt and Pr. Dr. Rudi De Raedt, I will focus on stress recovery through some of its psychophysiological correlates (activity of the autonomous system, perseverative cognition,…). In particular, I will aim at strengthening the vagus nerve which links the heart and the brain, and plays an important role in stress recovery by using and combining techniques such as resonant breathing, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation or physical exercise.