Growing recognition of the benefits of contemplative practice for the reduction of harmful stress and the improvement of prosocial behavior is prompting research into how these effects arise. We define contemplative practice as intentionally attempting to suspend all discursive and evaluative thought. In practice, most forms of contemplative practice emphasize compassion for self and others, …
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Understanding the neural correlates of attention
Interest in investigating the neural correlates of different meditation practices is increasing within the neuroscience community. In particular, shamatha practice, which strengthens the ability of a practitioner to sustain a concentrated, single-pointed focus of attention, is a natural focus for attention researchers within cognitive neuroscience. However, studies of the medium- and long-term effects of shamatha …
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Nathan Fisher
Nathan Fisher received his BA in Religious Studies (Honors) from Vanderbilt University in 2011. He then joined the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Brown University where he managed the “Varieties of Contemplative Experience” study from 2012-2015. He received the Francisco J. Varela Research Award in 2012 and began a PhD program in Religious Studies and …
David Cooper
Jared Lindahl
Jared Lindahl, PhD is Visiting Scholar at the Cogut Center for the Humanities and Director of Humanistic Research in the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab at Brown University. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where his dissertation research adopted a bio-cultural methodology to investigate the significance of light-related …
David Meyer
David E. Meyer is a faculty member of the Cognition and Perception Program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. A mathematical psychologist and cognitive scientist, he received his PhD from Michigan and subsequently worked for almost a decade as a Member of Technical Staff in the Human Information Processing …
Nicholas Van Dam
Nicholas Van Dam holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology and has extensive training in Cognitive Neuroscience and Mindfulness/Meditation. He completed a B.S. in Neurobiology and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, a 90 minute drive from his hometown of Brookfield, WI. Nicholas completed a M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University …
Willoughby Britton
Dr. Britton earned a B.A. in Neuroscience from Colgate University in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2007. She is the recipient of two National Research Service Awards (NRSA) and a Career Development Award (CDA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is currently the Director of Brown’s Clinical …
David Vago
Dr. David Vago is Research Associate Professor and Director of the Contemplative Neuroscience and Mind-Body (CNMB) Research Laboratory in the Department of Psychology at Vanderbilt University. He is core training faculty for the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation. He is also a research associate in the Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham …
Uri Hasson
Uri Hasson grew up in Jerusalem. As an undergraduate, he studied philosophy and cognitive sciences at the Hebrew University. He completed his PhD in Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute in Israel and was a postdoctoral fellow at NYU before moving to Princeton. He is currently a Professor in the Psychology Department and the Neuroscience Institute …
