Change your brain by transforming your mind: Neuroscientific studies of meditation Richard J. Davidson Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, Laboratory for Affec2ve Neuroscience, and Center for Inves2ga2ng Healthy Minds Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry University of Wisconsin-Madison A brief autobiographical interlude… The contemporary convergence •  Neuroplas2city and contempla2ve prac2ce •  Epigene2cs •  Neurally-inspired behavioral interven2ons •  Pu5ng the brain back into biomedicine: A pathway back to the mind The voluntary cultivation of compassion Blockd esign Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral s tate State State State State Event-related design 40 sec Meditation 15 sec = Auditory stimuli Neutrals tate Neutrals tate from the Lang database “Here, what we have tried to do, for the sake of the experiment, is to generate a state in which love and compassion permeate the whole mind, with no other consideration, reasoning or discursive thoughts. This is sometimes called ‘pure compassion’, or ‘non-referential compassion’ (in the sense that it does not focus on particular objects to arouse love or compassion), or ‘all-pervading compassion’.” Matthieu Ricard Lutz et al., 2004, PNAS Lutz et al., 2004, PNAS