The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia is pleased to announce a groundbreaking $750,000 research program investigating Cases of the Reincarnation Type (CORT). This two-year initiative, supported by the BIAL Foundation, The Dreamery Foundation, the Philip B. Rothenberg Research Fund, and TMT Foundation, among others, represents a significant expansion of DOPS’s pioneering work in this field.
Led by DOPS researchers Dr. Marieta Pehlivanova and Dr. Philip Cozzolino, this innovative program will employ state-of-the-art neuroimaging and contemporary research methodologies to explore why certain children report memories of past lives. This represents an evolution from DOPS’s traditional evidence-oriented approach to a process-oriented strategy that may reveal underlying mechanisms of these extraordinary experiences.
The research team will be strengthened by the inaugural Rothenberg Research Fellow, an early-career researcher specializing in consciousness survival studies, who will be selected to join this important initiative. This fellowship position demonstrates DOPS’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of consciousness researchers while advancing the field’s scientific understanding.
“This expanded research program marks a new chapter in our scientific investigation of children’s past-life memories,” says Dr. Pehlivanova. “By combining insights from our extensive case collection with modern neuroscientific methods, we aim to understand the cognitive, neurophysiological, and environmental factors that may contribute to these experiences.”
The research will focus on two potential pathways – memory and trauma – that may influence why these memories manifest in some children. The team will develop new empirical approaches to identify and study cases, while conducting pioneering pilot studies comparing children with and without past-life memories using behavioral and neurophysiological measures.
Key components of the research program include:
- Development and validation of new methods for identifying and recruiting legitimate cases
- Investigation of parent-reported outcomes related to memory and trauma pathways and their associations with past-life memories
- Application of established cognitive psychology and neuroscience paradigms to understand individual differences that may contribute to the manifestation of past-life memories
- Utilization of DOPS’s advanced neuroimaging laboratory
This research aims to bridge the gap between these compelling cases and mainstream science. The public presentation and dissemination of this work, at conferences and in peer-reviewed scientific journals, will contribute to our understanding of consciousness, memory, and human experience.
The program launches in 2025 and will run through early 2027, building upon DOPS’s sixty-year legacy of investigating these phenomena while embracing cutting-edge research methodologies.
For more information about this research program or DOPS, please contact Dr. Elliott Gish, research specialist, at KET3QY@uvahealth.org.