The emerging field of contemplative neuroscience

Richard Davidson, Ph.D., on where it came from and where it's going. 

Photo: perpetualplum & bainsmcg/Flickr.com

In October 2012, Richard Davidson, Ph.D., spoke at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. Davidson talks about the early days of contemplative neuroscience, where his graduate work involved some of the first forays into studying meditation and the brain.

At a personal and professional level, he discusses the emergence of studies surrounding the effects of meditation on the brain and how studies and findings have proceeded since those early days.

Davidson is a professor of pyschology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He’s also founder and director of Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds.

He also recently co-authored The Emotional Life of Your Brain with Reuters health and science correspondent, Sharon Begley.