Center for Healthy Minds

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

A research team at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of California, Irvine, designed a video game to improve mindfulness and found that playing the game leads to changes in the brain areas underlying attention. 

The 25th Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion was held in April 2019. We review the past 25 years of advances in the field of affective neuroscience

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

Faculty member Julie Poehlmann-Tynan explores the impacts of parent-child separation

The Center and Mexico-based nonprofit AtentaMente are piloting a program to improve school cultures and educators' well-being

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

Center for Healthy Minds professor Julie Poehlmann-Tynan has received funding to improve outcomes for children's visits with their incarcerated parents

A new research project will address what experiences affect brain development during the first two years of life for disadvantaged children.

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

The Center is releasing its mindfulness-based “Kindness Curriculum” for teachers and parents to implement with their preschoolers

Researchers find a steady decrease in references to the natural world in music, literature and film

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

How do our experiences in childhood shape our brains and coping styles in adulthood?

Sesame Street, one of the most beloved and longest-standing children's shows, is emphasizing kindness in its upcoming season with the help of the Center for Healthy Minds

Gift enables research investigating mental health for at-risk youth

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?

Center scientists examine how brain develops in first two years of life

A generous gift will enable the Center for Healthy Minds and UW–Madison School of Education to study child development and well-being

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

The Center received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District, to study well-being and mindfulness-based skills in the classroom

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

Can we teach positive qualities of mind through video games?

Researchers look at how early experience impacts the development and function of the human brain

A documentary follows Center Founder Richard Davidson's journey in understanding the mind and well-being

How can we explore digital technologies such as video games as ways to improve well-being in kids?

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

A new grant will allow researchers to design and rigorously test two educational games

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