Mind & Life XXIX – Session 3

Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind and Life XXIX: Mapping the Mind” on April 12, 2014. Cultural Neuroscience: Connecting Culture, Brain, and GenesSPEAKER: Shinobu Kitayama Cultural neuroscience is an emerging field of research that examines the interdependencies among culture, brain, and genes, with the ultimate goal of elucidating how the mind functions in varying …

Mind & Life XXIX – Session 2

Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind and Life XXIX: Mapping the Mind” on April 11, 2014. Cognitive Illusions: A Yogācāra PerspectiveSPEAKER: Jay Garfield We often take for granted that our introspective access to our own cognitive, affective and perceptual states is immediate and veridical, and that reflection on the nature of experience provides data …

Grey Matters: The BRAIN Initiative & Mapping the Mind

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 …

Mind & Life XXVI – Session 6

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 …

Mind & Life XXVI – Session 5

Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVI: Mind, Brain and Matter” on January 21, 2013. Day Five: Applications of Contemplative Practice Contemplative Practice in the WorldSPEAKERS: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Sona Dimidjian, PhD, Arthur Zajonc, PhD, Geshe Ngawang Samten As we have seen, scientists are actively studying contemplative practices to understand …

Mind & Life XXVI – Session 4

Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVI: Mind, Brain and Matter” on January 20, 2013. Day Four: Consciousness Consciousness in Western Science and PhilosophySPEAKERS: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Christof Koch, PhD, Matthieu Ricard, PhD The topic of consciousness is one that humans have wrestled with for centuries. How is consciousness related …

Mind & Life XXVI – Session 3

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 …

Mind & Life XXVI – Session 2

Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVI: Mind, Brain and Matter” on January 18, 2013.  Day Two: Physics Quantum Physics and RealitySPEAKERS: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arthur Zajonc, PhD, and Michel Bitbol, PhD The traditional view of reality seeks to identify the intrinsic or “real” properties of things, such as their …