Mindfulness and Meditation: Academic Studies

Neuroscience learning from ancient Buddhist philosophies

French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, who gave a talk at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, later published this interview in The Atlantic on how modern neuroscience and Buddhism are highly synergistic. Buddhism provides a detailed and analytic study of the functioning of our mind. He was part of an earlier study, published in PNAS, from the University of Wisconsin showing how deep meditation by highly experienced practitioners evoke changes in mental patterns seen on fMRI.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/12/buddhism-and-neuroscience/548120/

Mindfulness for Resilience and Neuroplasticity

Several clinical and scientific groups at Harvard Medical School and other leading universities are looking at different aspects on how mindfulness and cognitively based compassion therapy can be applied clinically in diverse clinical scenarios, as well as their scientific mechanism on changing the mind.

https://davidvago.bwh.harvard.edu/studies/

https://www.compassion.emory.edu/research.html

We have much to learn

While there is so much to explore, the teachings of the Buddha from over 2,500 years ago are still universally applicable today, and in no way in conflict with modern science.