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Grant History
PEACE Grant

Measuring mental states during lovingkindness meditation using individualized brain patterns: A community-engaged investigation (updated*)

Helen Weng
Topics: Compassion & Empathy | Social Change

* January 2021 update:

New title: Characterizing how lovingkindness meditation is practiced in a diverse meditation community committed to social justice

New Principal Investigator: Ariana Thompson-Lastad

 

Lovingkindness meditation consists of mental exercises to cultivate caring feelings towards oneself and others. Research suggests that lovingkindness meditation improves social connection and helping behavior, and may aid social justice movements by decreasing implicit racial bias. However, the pathways through which these benefits occur remain unclear because scientists lack tools to measure mental states during lovingkindness practice. This proposal will use a community-engaged approach to 1) characterize how lovingkindness meditation is practiced in a diverse meditation community committed to social justice, and 2) develop a novel brain-based measure to assess mental states during lovingkindness meditation. We will apply pattern recognition technology to functional MRI data to recognize and estimate mental states during meditation practice (such as the emotional quality of lovingkindness towards each person), which can then be quantified into novel LKM metrics, such as the ratio of positive to negative responses to the self and difficult person. This project aims to improve the contemplative field’s methods in assessing lovingkindness meditation, particularly in a multicultural context.

Helen Weng, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Grantee, Reviewer

Ariana Thompson-Lastad, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

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Mind & Life Institute
  • About
    • Mission and Values
    • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • 35 Years
    • Strategy
    • History
    • People
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • Events
    • Dialogues and Conversations
    • Summer Research Institute
    • Mind & Life Connect
    • Inspiring Minds
  • Grants
    • Varela Grants
    • PEACE Grants
    • Contemplative Changemaking Grants
    • Awards
    • Mentoring
  • Online Learning
    • Insights Essays
    • Mind & Life Podcast
    • Online Courses
    • Digital Dialogues
    • Academic Papers
  • Media
    • Blog
    • Documentaries
    • Books
    • Videos
  • Support
    • Why Give
    • Ways to Give
    • Annual Reports
  •