Paul Verhaeghen, Ph. D.

My recent work involves the study of mindfulness as a trait and a state. See my book on the effects of mindfulness on brain, mind, and life. In our research, we're interested in a new, broader definition of mindfulness, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, as well as self-transcendence. We're particularly interested in how these aspects foster not just personal wellbeing, but can also be of benefit to others, by fostering wisdom, virtue, compassion, and social justice and other aspects of transcending the self.

Historically, most of the work in our lab has centered around cognitive aging: What happens to people's minds as they grow older? Much of my meta-analytic work boils down to the question of the dimensionality of cognitive aging: Does it all go together when it goes? Much of that work has focused on cognitive control.and working memory. 

A third research interest is creativity, more specifically the link between creativity (or, as we like to think of it, mental play), mood disorder, and different types of rumination.

E-mail: verhaeghen@gatech.edu

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Ruohan "Fleur" Feng, M.A.

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I received my master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Syracuse University. I am currently studying mindfulness interventions on the dynamic balance of emotional regulation and reward-based decision-making. Additionally, I am interested in exploring the inner mechanisms of emotional disorders to promote understanding of these disorders and reduce suffering caused by them. In my free time, I love to spend time with my cats (Kevin and Quads) and dog (Kanna).

E-mail: vrfeng68@gatech.edu

Sarvenaz Jahanzad, M.A.

I am interested in mindfulness-based interventions and how being mindful helps individuals improve both their physical and mental health as well as their overall well-being and quality of life. I am currently working on the relationships between different categories of physical diseases, and vital needs/desires such as the need for safety, the need for love, and the need for self-actualization. Mindfulness, well-being, spirituality, and mental health are other factors in this study and their relationships with the diseases will be measured. In addition, I am trying to make a comprehensive archive for each physical disease as a systematic review that synthesizes the psychological factors that can cause physical problems, effective psychological interventions for alleviating disease symptoms, and brain activities related to some physical diseases. Moreover, collecting some special data related to the experiences of people with amputation such as phantom pain is another research area that I found interesting and questionable. All in all, the overall health of human beings is one of my endeavors that I am trying to move toward and make a difference.

E-mail: sjahanzad3@gatech.edu