The Craving Cycle

A former addict turned neuroscientist, Marc Lewis describes what happens in the brain when addiction sets in, and how Buddhist psychology helps explain it.

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 …

Mind & Life XXVII – Session 1

Filmed during Mind & Life Institute’s “Mind & Life XXVII: Craving, Desire and Addiction” on October 28, 2013. Day One: The Problem of Craving and Addiction The program begins with introductory remarks by former Mind and Life President Arthur Zajonc, as well as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Moderators Richard Davidson and Diana Chapman Walsh …

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 …

Meditation: It’s Not What You Think

Think you can’t meditate? Mind & Life’s resident neuroscientist explores some popular misconceptions surrounding meditation, and reasons to keep trying.