Our team
Our team at the Performance Psychophysiology Lab brings together a diverse group of researchers and students dedicated to understanding the physiological foundations of human performance.
Led by Dr. Sylvain Laborde, our group includes PhD candidates (Stefan, Maša, Caterina, Ismael, Matt, and others), Master's and Bachelor students, interns, and alumni. Each member contributes unique expertise in areas such as heart rate variability, stress regulation, and applied performance science.
Together, we combine rigorous research, applied projects, and interdisciplinary collaboration to explore how the mind and body interact to support optimal performance across sport and everyday life.
Sylvain Laborde
Dr. Sylvain Jean Pascal Laborde is a leading researcher in performance psychophysiology at the German Sport University Cologne. His work centers on heart rate variability (HRV) as a marker of self-regulation, emotional intelligence, and performance under pressure. He is the originator of the Vagal Tank Theory, which conceptualizes how autonomic flexibility supports stress resilience and recovery.
Beyond his research, Sylvain advocates for science communication — for instance, through science slams — and applies his insights in practical settings, including mental training for athletes and musicians.
PhDs
Maša Iskra
Maša Iskra is a doctoral student at the Department of Performance Psychophysiology at DSHS Cologne. In her project, she is investigating the influences of psychophysiological activation induced through slow- and fast-paced breathing on decision processes. Her research interests encompass paced breathing techniques, motor-cognitive performance, embodied cognition, and decision processes in daily life and sports.
Taking a physiological approach to cognition, Maša's methodological skills include ECG, ICG, skin conductance, and respiration, as well as evidence synthesis through meta-analyses, systematic, and scoping reviews. She is completing her PhD within the scope of the Embodied Choices Graduate School Cologne.
Stefan Ackermann
Stefan Ackermann is a PhD student in the Department of Performance Psychology at the German Sport University Cologne. His research focuses on emotional intelligence, cardiac vagal activity, and the impact of the diving response on both vagal and sympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system.
He combines fundamental psychophysiological research with applied perspectives, exploring how physiological interventions can inform and improve performance and resilience in both sport and everyday (especially school and work related) contexts.
Caterina Salvotti
Caterina Salvotti is a doctoral candidate in the Performance Psychophysiology Group at the German Sport University Cologne. Her research explores how breathing techniques influence the autonomic nervous system, heart, and brain activity. Alongside her academic work, she integrates research-informed and yoga-informed approaches to promote wellbeing and performance in several settings, including sport, work, and everyday life.
Ismael Pedraza Ramírez
Ismael Alfonso Pedraza Ramírez is a PhD candidate in the Performance Psychophysiology group at DSHS Cologne. His research engages with heart rate variability as a physiological index of stress and recovery and examines how these processes affect cognitive and motor performance under pressure.
Matthew Watson
Matthew "Matt" Watson is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Performance Psychology at the German Sport University Cologne. His work centers around psychophysiological mechanisms in performance contexts, particularly how autonomic nervous system dynamics (e.g., HRV) and cognitive processes interact to affect resilience, decision-making, and adaptation in sport and performance domains.
Science never stops and neither do we. Meet the entire team promoting our research every day.
Our research guests
Master students
Angelica Hovanessian
Angelica Hovanessian is a sport and exercise psychology researcher based in Cologne, Germany. Originally from Canada, she holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto and is currently completing her Master's in Psychology of Sport and Exercise at the German Sport University Cologne.
Her current research focuses on the psychophysiological effects of slow-paced breathing (SPB). She is conducting a validation study for a novel haptic breathing belt, examining how haptic-guided SPB enhances cardiac vagal activity. Additionally, Angelica is investigating the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and cardiac vagal activity, exploring pathways between emotional regulation and physiological markers of resilience and recovery.
Bachelor students
Paulina Klee
Paulina Klee is currently finishing her B.Sc. in Psychology at the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf. With a strong interest in Sports and Performance Psychology, she researched and wrote her Bachelor's thesis externally at the German Sports University in Cologne, exploring the relationship between vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) and subjective variables in slow paced breathing (SPB). In the long term, Paulina Klee aims to complete a master's degree in this field and work as a sports psychologist.
Interns
Ana
Winkler
Laura
Bartsch
Luisa
Wonsyld
Maya
Meißner
Alumni
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to our alumni for their important contributions to the scientific work and collaborative atmosphere of the lab.