The neuromagnetic brain activation patterns of induced compassion in advanced Zen meditation practitioners

The concept of compassion is complex, where religious and philosophical writings are abundant but scientific publications remain sparse. The surge in neuroscientific publications related to prosocial behaviors, spirituality, and Buddhist-based meditation practices has sparked a growing interest in issues once considered foreign to the scientific arena. There is currently a strong need to develop neuroscientific methods that incorporate subjective trait and state measures. In addition, the use of powerful new technologies such as high density whole head magnetoencephalography (MEG) provides novel methods for mapping brain states over time in a way never before thought possible. The current proposal will attempt to use MEG in combination with both state and trait scales to better understand how mind and brain are related to the production of induced compassion. The sample for investigation will include high level Zen Buddhist practitioners with many years of intensive religious practice within a Buddhist framework that requires the cultivation of compassion. The hope is that these findings may one day shed light on an array of psychiatric disorders where certain forms of social impairments could benefit from practices traditionally sequestered within only religious context;s.