Sandra Langeslag
Cognitive and Biological Psychologist
Speaker
Dr. Sandra Langeslag is an Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Missouri – St. Louis in the United States. She obtained her PhD in Biological and Cognitive Psychology from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands.
Dr. Langeslag directs the Neurocognition of Emotion and Motivation Lab, in which she studies the neurocognition of romantic love, including parasocial love (i.e., romantic feelings for media figures, such as celebrities and fictional characters), and love for artificial intelligence (AI) companions.
Her research on romantic love spans four research lines:
- Romantic love improves cognition: People have more attention and better memory for their beloved.
- Romantic love impairs cognition: Love distracts people from doing other tasks.
- Love regulation: Even though people think that love is uncontrollable, it is possible to increase and decrease their love feelings by using strategies such as cognitive reappraisal, distraction, and fantasizing.
- Love and addiction: People who are in love seem addicted to their beloved, but what are the differences and similarities between love and addiction?