Dr. Sandra Langeslag obtained her Ph.D. in Biological and Cognitive Psychology at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. She is the director of the Neurocognition of Emotion and Motivation (NEM) Lab. She studies the interaction between cognition and emotion. While some of the studies are about emotions in general, most of the studies concern romantic love.
Specifically, Dr. Langeslag studies the neurocognition of romantic love, using event-related potentials (ERP), cognitive tasks, and self-report measures. This research is extremely relevant and important because virtually everyone falls in love at least once and falling in love has major impact on people's lives.
Dr. Langeslag studies real-life love, parasocial love (i.e., romantic feelings for media figures, such as celebrities and fictional characters), and love for artificial intelligence (AI) companions.
The 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?
Dr. Langeslag will be accepting graduate students to start in Fall 2026.
