Dara Ghahremani, Ph.D.

Dr. Dara Ghahremani is associate research faculty in the Laboratory for Molecular Neuroimaging at UCLA and serves as faculty in the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative. He received his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the Psychology Department at Stanford University and was a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA. His research aims to understand self-regulation behavior, its neural basis, how it is compromised in substance abuse, and how it may be strengthened using both pharmacological and behavioral interventions. He uses multiple neuroimaging techniques to investigate the neural basis of self-regulation, including functional MRI (fMRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). His studies both healthy people and those with substance use disorders. The interventions employed for potential enhancement of self-regulation include pharmacological agents that show promise for enhancing cognitive function and non-pharmacological approaches (e.g., controlled breathing) that promote autonomic balance. His recent studies have focused on a biopsychosocial workshop for adolescents that promotes self-regulation using breathing meditation techniques as method for regulating the autonomic nervous system.  

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Associate Research Faculty, Laboratory of Molecular Neuroimaging Faculty, UCLA