CU Psychology and Neuroscience graduate student Yoni Ashar (Clinical, mentored by Sona Dimidjian and Tor Wager) was in the news as a result of his recent publication in the journal Emotion. The research was done in collaboration with several people from within and without CU.聽The聽studies聽examined multiple variables and their impact on compassion (sympathetic concern for the plight of others), behaviorally measured by, among other ways,聽participants' willingness to donate money to fictional聽people in need about whom they had read short vignettes. Using multiple measures resulted in relatively high accuracy predictions about the amount participants donated. A second study with聽new participants聽examined the effects of guided meditation sessions on the same measures. People in the meditation group reported stronger positive feelings toward those in need, and exhibited聽greater charity compared to two control groups. Read the about the research, or read the 聽(thus far only the abstract is available online).聽