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?”
Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVI: Mind, Brain and Matter” on January 22, 2013. Day Six: Future Directions (In Tibetan) The Future of Monastic Science EducationSPEAKERS: Geshe Lhakdor, Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI), a collaborative undertaking between Emory University and the Library of Tibetan Works and …
Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVI: Mind, Brain and Matter” on January 19, 2013. Day Three: Neuroscience Changing the BrainSPEAKERS: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Richard Davidson, PhD, and Tania Singer, PhD The ability of the brain to change through experience, a capacity known as neuroplasticity, allows for exciting possibilities of …
Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVI: Mind, Brain and Matter” on January 17, 2013. Day One: Introduction Since he was a youth, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has had a personal interest in modern science and technology. Over many years, this interest has led to the conviction that recent developments …
Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XVII: Contemplative Science” on October 21-23, 2010. Foundations for Scientific Understanding of Contemplative PracticeSPEAKERS:His Holiness the 14th Dalai LamaMatthieu RicardRichard Davidson Despite its youth, the emerging field of Contemplative Science has advanced considerably in the last decade, and many of these advancements are linked to progress …
The Importance of the Encounter with Buddhism for Modern Science (written circa 1999)
Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XVIII: Attention, Memory, and Mind” on April 6-10, 2009. Multi-tasking, Meditation, and Contemplative PracticeSPEAKER: David Meyer The subjective phenomena commonly experienced by novice and intermediate practitioners during Shamatha meditation and other related types of contemplative practice suggest that they may be understood in terms of theoretical …
