This Neuroscientist Proves Well-Being Can Change the Brain

Richie Davidson's research is proving how well-being can actually change the brain. 

Photograph by Cameron Wittig

Even Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, refers to Richie Davidson as the “scientist savant.” The description is apt. His curriculum vitae clocks in at 87 pages and bristles with achievements—including some of the most substantial research on meditation and mindfulness to date. Which is why Davidson spoke to NBC’s Maria Shriver recently about how we can integrate meditation into daily life.

“Being distracted exacts a cost on our well-being,” Davidson tells Shriver. “If we become more mindful of our everyday activities, we can learn well-being and become happier.” Indeed, a recent study out of Davidson’s lab at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, U-W Madison, on compassion meditation demonstrated that just 30 minutes of practice a day over the course of two weeks was enough to produce a change in behavior and in brain function.

Click here for a full preview of Richie Davidson's research on meditation, mindfulness, compassion, and more.

Click the image above to get a full preview of Davidson’s research. 

The infographic is from August issue of Mindful magazine. (You can also preview Mindful‘s feature story on Davidson.)