Dr. Denkova is an Associate Research Professor in the Division of Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Assistant Lab Director of the Jha Lab, Assistant Director of the Neuroimaging Facility & Assistant Director of Research for the UMindfulness Initiative. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Strasbourg after which she joined the University of Alberta as a CIHR Fellow. She serves as Co-investigator on several federally funded grants with Dr. Amishi Jha.
Dr. Denkova expertise is in cognitive and affective neuroscience. Using brain and behavioral methods, she broadly studies the neural basis of cognitive and affective processes and their trainability with mindfulness training. Her program of research focuses on: 1) The interplay between cognitive and affective processes underlying personal memories and thoughts, such as mind-wandering, ruminations, and intrusions; 2) The impact of mindfulness training on these cognitive and affective processes in high-stress/high-demand professionals.
Selected publication for each line of research:
Cognitive and Affective Research
- Denkova, E., Tardibuono, T., Tsukahara, J.S., Zanesco, A.P., & Jha, A.P. (2025). Climate Anxiety Impairs Sustained Attention: Objective Evidence of a Cognitive Cost. Front. Psychol. 16:1624782. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1624782
- Dolcos, F., Denkova, E., Iordan, A., Shafer, A., Fernandez, G. & Dolcos, S. (2025). Dissociating and linking divergent effects of emotion on cognition: insights from current research and emerging directions. Front. Psychol. 16:1483373. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1483373
- Denkova, E., Nomi, J. S., Uddin, L. Q., & Jha, A. P. (2019). Dynamic brain network configurations during rest and an attention task with frequent occurrence of mind wandering. Human Brain Mapping, 40(15), 4564-4576. http://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24721
- Denkova, E., Brudner, E. G., Zayan, K., Dunn, J., & Jha, A. P. (2018). Attenuated face processing during mind wandering. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30(11), 1691-1703. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01312
Applied Mindfulness Training Research
- Denkova, E., Barry, J., Zanesco, A.P., Rooks, J., Rogers, S.L., & Jha, A.P. (2023). Online Mindfulness Training for Older Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial using Multi-Method Approach. Aging & Mental Health, 28(1), 130-141. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2023.2242301
- Denkova, E., Alessio, C., Barry, J., Zanesco, A.P., Rogers., S.L., Matusevich, K., & Jha A.P. (2022). Chapter 5 Mindfulness Training in Organizational Settings: An Empirical Look at the Research. In L. Wilkin & Y. Pathak (Ed.), De Gruyter Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management (pp. 57-68). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110746365-005
- Denkova, E., Barry, J., Slavin, L., Zanesco, A. P., Rogers, S.L., & Jha, A.P. (2021). Investigating the impact of peer-trainer delivered mindfulness training on cognitive abilities and psychological health. Mindfulness, 12, 2645–2661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01713-6
- Denkova, E., Zanesco, A. P., Rogers, S. L., & Jha, A. P. (2020). Is resilience trainable? An initial study comparing mindfulness and relaxation training in firefighters. Psychiatry Research, 285, 11794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112794
