University of Chicago
Richard J. Davidson, PhD, is a renowned neuroscientist and one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of contemplative practices, such as meditation, on the brain. He is the founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The following is an excerpt from the documentary film The Science of Wisdom. In this interview, Dr. Davidson discusses how he came to studying meditation from a neuroscientific perspective, the role of the prefrontal cortex in meditation, the interaction of meditation and immunocompetance, and the intersection of wisdom and contemplative practice.