Programs:

Summary

The practice of meditation has been shown to be a highly effective form of stress reduction, and is frequently used as an adjunct therapy for a myriad of illnesses. The goal of our lab is to understand the neurobiological mechanism of action mediating the positive effects of this popular intervention. We combine functional MRI, standard psychological, cognitive and emotional assessment tools, and measures of autonomic functioning to investigate the meditative state and how regular practice of meditation alters brain structure and function.

Funding

The work is funded by grants to Dr. Lazar from NIH/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and from the CDC.

Links

Athinoula A Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program
The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy
The Osher Institute
The Mind Body Medical Institute
The Center for Mindfulness

Staff

Sara Lazar, Ph.D.
Laboratory Director
Publications by Dr. Lazar

Shruthi Chakrapani
Michael Treadway

Close Collaborators

Cathy Kerr
Eric Jacobson
Chris Moore
Jim Carmody
Moshe Bar
Mark Fenske
Jeff Dusek
Herb Benson