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Contemplative Neuroscience Researchers
Browse 9 researchers focused on contemplative neuroscience in consciousness research.
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Catherine Kerr
Assistant Professor (Posthumous) · Brown University
Neuroscientist who studied how mindfulness meditation modulates cortical alpha rhythms that regulate sensory information flow. Her work revealed how attention to body sensations during meditation trains brain gating mechanisms. Deceased 2016.
Francisco Varela
Research Director (posthumous) · CNRS / École Polytechnique
Chilean biologist, philosopher, and neuroscientist who co-developed the concept of autopoiesis and founded neurophenomenology, a research program integrating first-person contemplative experience with neuroscience. Passed away in 2001.
Heleen Slagter
Professor of Cognitive Science · Monash University
Cognitive neuroscientist studying how meditation training affects attention, consciousness, and brain plasticity. Her work showed that intensive meditation can reduce the attentional blink.
Julia Mossbridge
Director · IONS Innovation Lab / University of San Diego
Cognitive neuroscientist studying presentiment (physiological anticipation of unpredictable events) and positive precognition. Combines contemplative science with empirical research.
Matthew Ricard
Buddhist Monk & Scientist · Shechen Monastery / Mind & Life Institute
Buddhist monk and molecular biologist who became a key subject in neuroscience research on meditation. His brain scans at Richard Davidson's lab showed unprecedented gamma wave activity during compassion meditation.
Matthieu Ricard
Buddhist Monk and Author · Shechen Monastery / Pasteur Institute (former)
Molecular biologist turned Buddhist monk who has participated in extensive neuroscientific studies on meditation and consciousness at the University of Wisconsin. Often called the "happiest man in the world" based on brain imaging research.
Richard Davidson
Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry · University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pioneer in contemplative neuroscience, studying meditation and well-being. Founded Center for Healthy Minds, collaborates with the Dalai Lama.
Tania Singer
Scientific Director · Max Planck Society / Social Neuroscience Lab
Neuroscientist who pioneered research on empathy, compassion, and social emotions. Led the ReSource Project, the largest longitudinal study on meditation-based mental training.
Zoran Josipovic
Research Associate & Adjunct Professor · New York University
Neuroscientist studying nondual awareness — a form of consciousness characterized by the collapse of the subject-object duality. Uses fMRI to study meditators experiencing nondual states.