An Interview with Gaelle Desbordes

Interview with Gaelle Desbordes at the 2017 Summer Institute on Buddhism and Science, Putting the Buddhism/Science Dialogue on a New Footing, hosted by the Mangalam Research Center from July 17-26, 2017.

Dr. Desbordes is a Principal Investigator at Harvard Medical School conducting research at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging within the Massachusetts General Hospital. As a neuroscientist, her research uses advanced methods in brain imaging (especially functional MRI) and physiological measurements of the autonomic nervous system to investigate meditative practices. She is particularly interested in contemplative methods for cultivating compassion and promoting behavior change. She is an active contributor to the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative and has been studying and practicing Tibetan Buddhism for about 10 years.

In this interview, she discusses meditation, neuroscience, scientific bias, and how the media portrays scientific research of meditation.

This project was made possible through the generous support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this video are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.