Ana Carolina

Teixeira Santos

Ana Carolina Santos is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Research on Socio-Economic Inequality (IRSEI) of the University of Luxembourg since July 2021. Ana Carolina works with Professor Anja Leist in partnership with the ZithaSenior in the MEDITAGING Project (sponsored by the FNR/Industrial Fellowship/ Project Reference 15240063). The main aim of  the MEDITAGING is to explore the effects of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on cognitive functions and cortisol levels in Portuguese older adults residing in Luxembourg.

Ana Carolina is a psychologist with a master's degree in Developmental Psychology and a PhD in Basic Psychology. She also has training in clinical trials, neuroimaging techniques, and brain stimulation. She has been collaborating with the Neuromodulation Center SpauldingLabuschange (Harvard Medical School) since her doctoral internship in this center in 2015. She was a university professor of Psychology at Faculdade Pitágoras (Brasil) and a teaching assistant at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (course: Principles and Practice of Clinical Research Course). Before coming to Luxembourg, Ana Carolina was a researcher at the Neuropsychophysiology Laboratory of the University of Minho, where she was a principal investigator in a project financed by the Bial Foundation (Project: “Getting the Aging Brain to Train: a Working Memory and Neurostimulation Approach” – reference number: #286/16) and she has taught different topics in the Master's courses in Psychology.  

Her main research interests are related to the use of non-pharmacological interventions in the promotion of successful aging, in particular focusing on mindfulness, cognitive training, and neuromodulation. She is also interested in the neurophysiological correlates of cognitive aging and neuroplasticity.