Dr. Denkova is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the 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:
Cognition and Emotion:
- Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., & Jha, A. P. (2021). Self-reported mind wandering and response time variability differentiate pre-stimulus electroencephalogram microstate dynamics during a sustained attention task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33(1), 28-45. http://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01636
- 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
- Denkova, E., Dolcos, S., & Dolcos, F. (2015). Neural correlates of ‘distracting’ from emotion during autobiographical recollection. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(2), 219-230. http://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu039
Mindfulness Training
- Denkova, E., Alessio, C., Barry, J., Zanesco, A.P., Rogers., S.L., Matusevich, K., & Jha A.P. (in press). Practical and theoretical consideration for mindfulness training implementation in organizational settings. Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management.
- 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
- Jha, A. P., Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., Morrison, A. B., Ramos, N., Chichester, K., Gaddy, J., & Rogers, S. L. (2020). Bolstering cognitive resilience via train-the-trainer delivery of mindfulness training in applied high-demand settings. Mindfulness, 11(3), 683-697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01284-7
