The scientists who participate in Mind and Life have been intrigued by the ability of meditation masters to develop and sustain attention and visualizations, to work skillfully and consciously with powerful emotional states, to intentionally manipulate basic physiological processes, and to catalyze psychological and biological healing effects, all through the directed mental processes of meditation practices. How Buddhist masters attain these skills through the development of the mind is still a mystery. In 1990, Mind and Life scientists initiated research projects to investigate the neurobiological effects of meditation on long term meditators.
Paralleling the work of Mind and Life since 1990, Western researchers spanning disciplines as diverse as bio-behavioral medicine, philosophy of mind, the cognitive and affective neurosciences, and psychology, have begun to explore the embodied mind and consciousness. The Mind and Life Institute is uniquely positioned to contribute to the current revolution in our scientific understanding of the mind by creating the interdisciplinary bridges to deepen scientific understanding of meditative theory and practices. In recent years, Mind and Life scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of California-San Francisco, University of California-Berkeley, and Harvard University have conducted experiments and are developing in-depth research projects. These projects utilize the most recent advances in the neurosciences and psychology.
Currently the Mind and Life Institute is expanding our support for scientists interested in conducting research on meditation and the mind. In 2002 and 2003 we are fundraising to enhance our program for Collaborative Research Among Buddhists and Scientists. We are also raising funds for a new research initiative: Cultivating Emotional Balance. If you would like more information about becoming a sponsor of one of our research programs, please visit our Opportunities for Sponsorship page.
A summary of our research programs follows, and more detailed information can be found by selecting either the topic headings below or the menu links at the left.

Cultivating Emotional Balance
At Mind and Life VIII on Destructive Emotions in March of 2000 in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama asked the scientists in attendance if they could develop a secular program which drew from both contemplative practices and Western science that would help ordinary people reduce the deleterious effects of destructive emotions in their lives. In response to that request, Professor Paul Ekman and his associates created the "Cultivating Emotional Balance during Challenging Times" [CEB] project . Cultivating Emotional Balance is a new study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to increase awareness and management of emotional behavior. The study involves scientists at the University of California-San Francisco, University of California-Berkeley, and University of California-Santa Barbara, and has been designed in collaboration with Dr. Richard Davidson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Margaret Kemeny, University of California-San Francisco, and Dr. Erika Rosenberg, University of California-San Francisco.

Collaborative Research Among Meditators and Scientists
The Mind and Life Institute believes that in order for the dialogue between meditation and science to have a durable contribution to humanity, collaborative research programs must be conducted in first rate Western scientific laboratories and the results of those studies be published in prominent peer-review scientific journals. Thus far collaborative research has been focused on collecting data from highly trained meditative adepts using fMRI, EEG and MEG neuroimaging techniques and other psychological, neurological, and immunological measures. Most importantly, these meditative adepts are not only "subjects", in the classical sense. Instead, they are true collaborators, helping to design the scientific research protocols, and participating in analysis and publications.