Center for Healthy Minds

This year's The World We Make event is free and open to the public, from October 5 - 9, 2020. The nightly virtual events  will explore science of well-being and feature new insights from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

In a recent collaborative study across institutions, researchers developed a new framework to identify mental states during meditation. This included the focus-on-breath state and mind wandering, and estimates of how much time meditators spend in each state.

Researchers at the Center for Healthy Minds found that people who took part in the most common and widely available secular mindfulness program did not experience psychological harm at a rate higher compared to people in control groups who did not take part in the program.

In a recent study, the brain of monk and long-time meditator Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, who was 41 years old at the time, looked eight years younger than his actual age. The possibility that a person’s “brain-age” might be affected by meditation adds to a growing list of how mental training may yield lasting changes.

A recent paper published by researchers at the Center for Healthy Minds shows that mindfulness training for preservice teachers leads to improvements in effective classroom teacher practices.

A new study shows that the young children of parents who take part in a compassion-based training program develop lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol over time.

Youth with bipolar depression responded better to an antipsychotic medicine if they had increased markers of inflammation in their blood

New research from the Center shows that mindfulness training leads to improvement in networks in the brain that are important for attentional control of mind wandering

New research points to evidence of increased cognitive complexity as children grow up that effects prosocial behavior

When stress levels in the mind and body are in sync, a person is more likely to have higher levels of well-being

Faculty member Simon Goldberg shares research about mental health treatment delays in the U.S. veteran population

Mindfulness meditation is helpful for mental health treatment, but more research is needed

When stressed, brief meditation practices work differently and not all are equally helpful

Center founder Richard Davidson participated in a roundtable organized by the NIH about the future of emotional well-being

A scientist from the Center for Healthy Minds has discovered a relationship between inflammation in the blood and people’s response to a depression drug

Findings from the Center for Healthy Minds suggest that expectant mothers' mental health may influence the white matter development in the brain of her child

Can video games teach prosocial skills such as empathy? A new study from the Center for Healthy Minds suggests that it's possible

In one of the largest studies to date on the topic, research from the Center for Healthy Minds suggests that meditation affects the brains of long-term meditators and novices differently

New research suggests that expectant mothers' mental health symptoms during pregnancy may affect their infants' brain development

Center researchers are investigating cross-talk between the brain and lungs of people with asthma to understand how psychological stress can make asthma worse

A new study will bring a better scientific understanding of the unique stressors facing police officers

A Center team is examining the quality of meditation research across time to look at whether study designs are improving

Meditation may decrease the risk of heart disease, according to a first-ever statement on the practice issued by the American Heart Association, with contributions from the Center for Healthy Minds

A new study is the first to suggest that the long-term practice of meditation may slow down the epigenetic clock in immune cells

Researchers are discovering what happens in the brain when emotional spillover occurs and, for the first time, are able to pinpoint areas directly responsible

Graduate students who underwent the intervention reported an increase in personal qualities associated with creativity

Our Center's research findings suggest mindfulness training that addresses fear and pain during childbirth improves childbirth experiences and lessens depression symptoms

Does meditation change the brain, even during sleep? Does awareness shape how we perceive emotions?

Center for Healthy Minds studies explore the influence of the brain on inflammatory diseases such as asthma

How can long-term meditation practice - and especially intensive training - have a lasting impact on practitioners in their everyday lives?

A study led by Center faculty member Charles Raison suggests that raising body temperature to the point of a mild fever reduces depression symptoms for up to 6 weeks following a single treatment

Center scientists use brain imaging to reveal the complexity, range of response, and symptoms for individuals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Compassion – and intentionally cultivating it through training – may lead us to do more to help the wronged than to punish the wrongdoer

Lying, fighting with others and acting disobediently are behaviors sometimes seen in preschool classrooms, but what sets the brains of children who behave this way apart from those who don’t?

New research on the relationship between savoring positive emotions and overall well-being

Empathy with both positive and negative emotions may be equally effective in inspiring altruism

Over the course of 12 weeks, twice a week, prekindergarten students learned their ABCs - attention, breath and body and caring practice

Research suggests breath counting may be one route to improving attention and well-being

Scientists at the Center are exploring how stressors like poverty, neglect and physical abuse experienced in early life may alter critical areas of the brain later in life

Research suggests people who experience chronic marital stress are less able to savor positive experiences – a hallmark of depression

Can cues in our environment we're unaware of shape our behavior and emotions toward others?

New research suggests mindfulness meditation may alter how genes are expressed in the body

Finding meaning from life’s experiences may play a role in our ability to regulate our emotions, research suggests

Teachers who practice mindfulness may be better able to reduce their own levels of stress and prevent burnout

Can compassion be learned?

How long the brain takes to recover from a threat may be an indicator of personality traits like neuroticism

A Center study suggests mindfulness meditation may provide relief from chronic inflammation

Meditation can change the way a person experiences pain, according to a new study by the Center

High levels of family stress in infancy are linked to differences in everyday brain function and anxiety in teenage girls

Stress may affect brain development in children, according to new research from the Center

There are practices that can change our brains for the better, according to new Center research

What are the costs when our minds wander?

Stress from immediate threats may negatively affect our ability for more complex thinking

Are individuals with depression able to sustain activity in brain areas related to positive emotion?

What does science say about our ability to train attention?

Grant from Fetzer Institute allows Davidson's lab to explore the impact of love, other positive qualities on the brain

Brain scans of practicing monks reveal impact on circuits used to detect emotions and feelings and others

Center Founder Richard Davidson is senior author on a study examining differences in the neural circuits responsible for emotional regulation in depressed individuals

Center Founder Richard Davidson, researchers find meditation increases activity in brain regions associated with attention, decision-making

Center Founder Richard Davidson, research group find meditation may have lasting impact on brain's ability to regulate attention

Center Founder Richard Davidson is the senior author of paper on the link between the size of the amygdala and social deficits associated with autism

Center Founder Richard Davidson is a co-senior author of study revealing link between brain's emotional processing centers and physiological symptoms of asthma

Center Founder Richard Davidson is senior author of a study revealing the over-activation of the brain's emotion processing center associated with negative feelings in children with autism

Study led by Center Founder Richard Davidson comparing brain-oscillation patterns shows higher frequency in brains of long-term Buddhist meditation practitioners than novice students in both meditative and resting states.

Center Founder Richard Davidson is the senior author of a study exploring possible direct link between increased activity in the brain region associated with positive affect and an increase in immune system response

Center Founder Richard Davidson leads study that finds lasting changes in brain, immune system due to participation in short mindfulness meditation program

Center Founder Richard Davidson is co-author of a study on brain activity in clinically depressed individuals that could be used to predetermine the effectiveness of antideppressants

Study finds breakdown in emotion regulation may lead to impulsive acts of violence

Richard Davidson oversees study exploring differences in brain circuitry and the resulting physiological and emotional responses due to stress in older women