DSEC Lab

Welcome to part 2 of our tour of the MRI Facility at the Centre for Neuroscience Studies with MRI Manager Donald Brien, Master’s student Emma Canning, and directed lab students Shira Klein and Juliana Ricciuti! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. 👇

Come with us as we take you on part 1 of our tour of the MRI Facility at the Centre for Neuroscience Studies here at Queen’s University! ✨ Our MRI Manager, Donald Brien, answers some common questions about MRI, from what happens during a scan to how an MRI scanner works. 🎙️

Elle Houston (She/Her) - QU’28 in Psychology. Elle is a fourth-year at Queen’s in Psychology and Life Sciences, and is a volunteer RA at the DSEC Lab. Her research interests include understanding the neurobiological and social mechanisms that support the development of emotion recognition.

Does your frontal lobe really “finish” developing at the age of 25? 🤔 Your frontal lobe doesn’t magically stop developing! What changes after adolescence is the rate of development. Check out this fantastic video made by DSEC Lab members Léa Francoeur & Shira Klein to learn more!

This year, former RA Alessia Cataudella was named a @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca Storytellers Challenge finalist! She presented her knowledge translation project at the @swc-can.bsky.social conference in Montréal this June! We are proud to celebrate Alessia’s achievement in science communication!

Mia Popelas (She/Her) - QU’27 in Psychology. Mia is a fourth-year psychology student volunteering as a Research Assistant in the DSEC Lab. She is interested in exploring the interplay between sensory processing, interoception, and the development of emotion regulation.

The DSEC Lab’s summer newsletter is now available 📚! Click the link in our bio to learn more about our ongoing studies, read up on recent study findings from the lab, and check out fun activities to do with the family! We can’t wait for you all to read it 😊

Shira Klein (She/Her) - QU’27 in Psychology. Shira is a volunteer research assistant and a SWEP summer research fellow in the DSEC Lab. She is excited to be exploring the development of nonverbal communication and how it shapes our social interactions. 🍪

Have you seen the viral "wow, okay" trend? 🤔 It's the one where you say the same sentence in 4 different tones, changing only your nonverbal expressions. Well, it turns out that's exactly the kind of thing we study here in the DSEC Lab. 🥳 We asked members of our lab to give the trend a try!

Juliana Ricciuti (She/Her) - QU’27 in Psychology. Juliana is a third-year psychology student joining the DSEC Lab as a volunteer RA! She is interested in the biological mechanisms underlying the development of emotional communication and how emotional communication affects our quality of life.

Olivia Murray (she/her) - QU '27 in Psychology and Sociology. Olivia is a third-year psychology student and a volunteer research assistant in the DSEC Lab this year! Olivia takes an interest in young adult clinical and social psychology, as well as forensic psychology and how these fields intersect.

Research is a team effort, and we're lucky to have such an incredible one ✨ We work hard and we have fun while doing it. A big thank you to all of our students, past and present, for your hard work and contributions to the DSEC Lab. 😄 Your impact is felt every day!

Reyna Okumura (she/her) — QU’27 in Psychology and Sociology Reyna is a third-year psychology/sociology joint Honours student volunteering as a research assistant in the DSEC Lab. She is interested in how people communicate, on individual and societal scales.

Congratulations to Alessia Cataudella, who has been named a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Storytellers Challenge finalist! 🎉 Watch to learn more about our lab’s ongoing projects. We are so proud to celebrate Alessia’s achievement and the dedication it reflects!

The DSEC Lab’s spring newsletter is now available! ☀️ Click the link in our bio to learn more about our ongoing studies, read up on recent study findings, and check out fun activities to do with the family! This newsletter has something fun for everyone. We can’t wait for you all to read it. 😀

The @dseclab.bsky.social is headed to #SRA2026 in Toronto! We're excited to share our latest work at the Society for Research on Adolescence. Our team will be presenting on Thursday, so stay tuned for some updates!

Maya Joseph (She/Her) - QU’28 in Con-Ed and Psychology. Maya is a third-year student, volunteering as an RA in the DSEC Lab. Her interests include clinical and developmental psychology. She is currently working towards a career in psychotherapy, with an interest in working with adolescents.

In this episode of Brain in Progress, listen to hosts Victoria Cassel (Honours student) and Navid Shabani Barzegar (Directed Lab student) discuss the potential ways in which social experience and brain development might be shaping adolescents’ facial expressions!

LAST CALL! We are wrapping up the DETECT-AF study in April, but still need a few more 10- to 15-year-olds to participate! 📢 We’re looking for teens, their parent, and a friend to come to our lab at Queen’s University (Kingston, ON). Contact dseclab@queensu.ca for more information!

Kate Bridge (she/her) – QU’26 Biology and Psychology. Kate is a fourth-year biology-psychology student and is volunteering as an RA in the DSEC Lab. She is particularly interested in early childhood development and its influence on communication.

The DSEC Lab is in Pittsburgh for #SAS2026! 🎉 We’re excited to present some of the latest findings from the lab and to learn from the incredible work being shared by others at the conference! Our team will be presenting on Friday and Saturday, so stay tuned for some conference highlights!

Mackenzie Romijn (She/Her) - QU’27 in Psychology. Mackenzie is a third-year Psychology major joining the DSEC lab this year as a directed lab student! Mackenzie is particularly interested in audience design, and how subtle nuances in nonverbal cues shape social interactions.

Happy Family Day from the DSEC Lab! 🩵 Thank you to all our participating families and local organizations for your continued support. Your involvement and commitment make a meaningful difference, helping us grow our collective understanding of youth socioemotional development every day!