Ph.D. Graduate
Kesaan successfully completed his Ph.D. in the clinical psychology program under the supervision of Dr. Yang in the Department of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. He also completed his M.A. on the role of inhibition in accounting for age-related changes in cognitive control. Expanding from this work, his dissertation project examined age-related differences in producing spontaneous thoughts, and their relationship to dysregulated inhibition (recruitment ongoing). Beyond exploring inhibitory contributions to other cognitive functions, his broad research interests include investigating neurocognitive compensation in aging and other cognitive factors that influence the generation of conscious thoughts. His career goal is to register as a clinical neuropsychologist.
Recently, Kesaan has accepted a position as a Predoctoral Intern in Clinical Neuropsychology at Baycrest Health Sciences.
Selected Awards
Social & Personality Best Student Poster, Canadian Psychological Association (2022)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Postgraduate Scholarship, Doctoral Program (2021-2024)
Mitacs Accelerate Internship (2021-2022)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Graduate Scholarship,
Master’s Program (2019)
Selected Publications
Truong, L., Kandasamy, K., & Yang, L. (2021). Cognitive control in young and older adults: Does mood matter? Brain Sciences, 50(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010050
Yang, L., Kandasamy, K., & Hasher, L. (2022). Inhibitory control and creativity in aging: Does distractibility enhance creativity? Annual Reviews in Developmental Psychology, 50, 353-375. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121020-030705
Yang, L., Kandasamy, K., Wang, P., Zhang, W., & Na, L. (2022). Perceived and experienced discrimination and its associated psychological impacts among Chinese Canadians during the Wave 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology, Health & Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2022.2142947
Selected Presentations
Kandasamy, K., & Yang, L. (2023). Discrimination and its psychosocial outcomes among Chinese Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic [Conference presentation]. 3rd Centre for New Immigrant Health (CNIW) Health & Bio-Medical Symposium 2023, Toronto, ON, Canada. https://cniw.org/research/
Skrotzki, C., Givetash, S., Bolton, K., Kandasamy, K., Yang, L. (2022, Dec. 1). Active aging workshop [Webinar]. 50+ Programs, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Selected Posters
Kandasamy, K. & Yang, L. (March, 2023). Cognitive control and emotional distress in older adults during the pandemic. Poster session presented for the meeting of the International Conference for Psychological Sciences (Association for the Psychological Sciences) in Brussels, Belgium.
Kandasamy, K. & Yang, L. (April, 2022). Distractor effects on aging and cognitive control use. Poster session presented at the meeting of the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
Kandasamy, K., Wang, P., Zhang, W., Na, L. & Yang, L. (June, 2022). The effects of discrimination on the psychological distress of Chinese Canadians during COVID-19. Poster presented for the meeting of the 2022 Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Calgary, AB.