The mysteries of the human brain are hidden in an almost unfathomable array of synaptic connections, cellular activity, neurotransmitters, gene expression patterns, and electrical oscillations. Even deeper than these lay the questions of how such an extraordinarily complex electrochemical system connects to our moment-to-moment experience as human beings: our perceptions, our thoughts, our emotions—what cognitive …
Continue reading “Grey Matters: The BRAIN Initiative & Mapping the Mind”
Think you can’t meditate? Mind & Life’s resident neuroscientist explores some popular misconceptions surrounding meditation, and reasons to keep trying.
Does meditation make a more ethical soldier, or a more dangerous one?
Most of us like to think that we’re compassionate people – that, given the opportunity, we’d recognize another’s pain and be moved to help. But in the midst of our daily lives, how compassionate are we, really? And is this something we can change about ourselves? These questions were at the heart of a recent study …
Continue reading “Can Meditation Change Compassionate Behavior?”
The Importance of the Encounter with Buddhism for Modern Science (written circa 1999)
