Human Affective Neuroscience Lab

AT SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY

Welcome!

Welcome to the Human Affective Neuroscience (HumAN) lab! We are located at Sungkyunkwan University, in the heart of Seoul, South Korea. The overarching goal of our research is to understand the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that underpin how we experience our own emotions and evaluate the emotions of others. ​ 

At the HumAN lab, we examine how different aspects of affective information are encoded, manipulated, and integrated in the brain. We also investigate individual differences in such processes on both behavioral and neural levels, and their implications for mental health. We combine experimental psychology, functional neuroimaging (fMRI), and computational tools to answer research questions pertaining to affective science. ​

Updates & Announcements

May 12, 2023

Our graduate students once again have been selected to receive support from the SKKU Cluster/Lab Mentoring program. 

Apr. 30, 2023

Wonyoung's paper has been nominated as one of the four finalists for the 2023 SANS Innovation Award!


Apr. 13, 2023

Bokyeong is our newest lab member! She joins the HumAN lab as an undergraduate RA. [read more]

Apr. 3, 2023

Seohyeon & Seohyun teamed up and was selected to represent our lab as the Dynamic Duo in the SKKU Co-Deep Learning Project program. [read more]

Mar. 11, 2023

Chaebin's latest work is available at bioRxiv! In this study, Chaebin attempts to identify cortical thickness topography that encapsulates generalized anxiety symptoms in adolescents. [read more]

Feb. 25, 2023

Hayoung is the recipient of the SKKU TA Award for being an amazing teaching assistant!

Feb. 25, 2023

Our lab's first preprint, led by Sujin, is available at bioRxiv! In this study, Sujin uses functional connectome similarity to explain teenage grit, [read more]

Feb. 24, 2023

Our review discussing the social brain, social connectedness, and well-being is published at Frontiers in Psychiatry. [read more]

Feb. 17, 2023

Another big W for the HuMAN Lab undergrads as Sumin, Yujin, Lian and Seohyun go on to win the Best Student Poster Award at the 2023 KSCBP conference!

Feb. 15, 2023

Kyuli has successfully graduated with a Master's degree! She is our lab's first graduate alumna,

Feb. 6, 2023

Huge congrats to the winners of the university-wide 2022-2 SKKU Research Matters competition, Chaebin (grand prize) and Wonyoung (excellence prize)! Chaebin presented her co-first authored work with Sujin. [see here] [read more]

Jan. 13, 2023

Champions! Sumin, Yujin, Lian and Seohyun are grand prize winners in the 2022-2 SKKU Co-Deep Learning Project competition. We made history as our lab produced 4 prize winning teams in 4 consecutive competitions!

Jan. 9, 2023

Seohyeon has been accepted to the Combined Bachelors & Masters program! She will become our lab's first Ph.D. student in the fall of 2023.

Nov. 29, 2022

Congrats to Chaebin & Sujin, whose paper has been selected for the Cover Illustration of the December issue of Brain Imaging and Behavior! [see here]

Oct. 24, 2022

Congrats to Kyuli, whose first author paper has been accepted to be published at Brain Sciences with Nayoung as a coauthor! This is a joint effort with Dr. Kang and the VCNL lab. [read more

Oct. 11, 2022

Congrats to Wonyoung, whose first author paper has been published at PNAS! We discuss how morphological similarity structures of amygdala-PFC pathways predict trait anxiety. [read more

Sep. 23, 2022

Our paper in which we argue against the proposition that surprise is not an emotion has been accepted for publication at Perspectives on Psychological Science. [read more]

Sep. 22, 2022

Sumin, Lian, Yujin and Seohyun have been selected to be supported by the SKKU Co-Deep Learning Project program. Team Lobe Dive will be our lab's fourth to enter the competition!

Sep. 15, 2022

Our study on how 30 years of K-pop hits might track temporal shifts in emotion has been accepted for publication at Emotion. [read more]

Sep. 10, 2022

We will be collaborating with Dr. Daeun Park and the MAP lab to elucidate the neural underpinnings of grit, supported by a newly awarded NRF grant.

Aug. 10, 2022

Three-peat! Hayoung, Lian, Yujin, Yunsu and Sumin are proud winners of the 1st prize in the 2022-1 SKKU Co-Deep Learning Project competition.

Jun. 22, 2022

Congrats to Chaebin and Sujin, whose joint first authored paper has been accepted to be published in Brain Imaging and Behavior! [read more]  

May. 26, 2022

Hayoung has been selected to participate in the 2022 IBS CNIR Summer School! [read more] 

May. 13, 2022

Our paper that exploring a connectome-wide functional signature of trait anger is now officially available in the May issue of Clinical Psychological Science. [read more]

May. 12, 2022

Ready for Round 3! Hayoung, Lian, Yujin, Yunsu and Sumin have been selected to be supported by the SKKU Co-Deep Learning Project program.

We Are Attending

Apr. 27-29, 2023

Social & Affective Neuroscience Society

Presenters: Sujin, Chaebin

Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Feb. 16-17, 2023

Korean Society for Cognitive & Biological Psychology 

Presenters: Nayoung, Sumin (with Yujin, Lian, Seohyun)

Seoul, South Korea

May. 26-29, 2022

Association for Psychological Science (APS) 

Presenters: Wonyoung (with Kyuli, Nayoung)

Chicago, IL, USA

Apr. 14-16, 2022

Korean Clinical Psychology Association (KCPA) 

Presenters: Dr. Kim 

*virtual conference due to COVID-19 pandemic

Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2022

Society for Affective Science (SAS) 

Presenters: Nayoung, Kyuli, Wonyoung

*virtual conference due to COVID-19 pandemic

Feb. 17-18, 2022

Korean Society for Cognitive & Biological Psychology 

Presenters: Sujin, Chaebin, Hayoung, E-young, Seohyeon

*virtual conference due to COVID-19 pandemic



Invited Speakers & Guests

Aug. 9, 2023

Dr. Leehyun Yoon [lab]

Department of Psychology & Center for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas

Aug. 4, 2022

Dr. Youngbin Kwak [lab]

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Jul. 27, 2022

Dr. Pilyoung Kim [lab]

Department of Psychology, University of Denver

Jul. 6, 2022

Dr. Ain Chung [lab]

Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST

Aug. 13, 2021

Dr. Pyungwon Kang 

Department of Economics, University of Zurich

Feb. 1, 2021

Dr. Juyoen Hur [lab]

Department of Psychology, Yonsei University