Although empathy is crucial for successful social interactions, excessive sharing of others negative emotions may be maladaptive and constitute a
source of burnout. To investigate functional neural plasticity underlying the augmentation of empathy and to test the counteracting potential of…
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Matthieu Ricard is an active member of the Mind and Life Institute, an organization dedicated to broadening the understanding of how the mind works by exploring the intersection between contemplative traditions and contemporary scientific inquiry.
He contributes to the research on the effect of meditation on the brain at various universities in the USA and Europe. He is also the co-author of several scientific publications on these topics, which you can explore here.
The Dalai Lama: Happiness through wisdom and compassion, by Matthieu Ricard, International Journal of Wellbeing, 1(2)
Matthieu Ricard discusses the concept of eduring happiness according to the Buddhist perspective, and how the Dalai Lama embodies this skill that can be cultivated.
Read moreLong-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice, by Antoine Lutz, Matthieu Ricard, et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2004, 101(46)
The authors explain how scientific research on Buddhist meditators shows that mental training can induce short-term and long-term neural changes.
Read moreMeditation and the startle response: A case study, by Robert W. Levenson, Paul Ekman, and Matthieu Ricard, Emotion 2012, 12(3)
This study investigates the effects of two type of meditation – open presence and focused – on a meditator’s defensive response to a startle stimulus during the meditation.
Read moreBuddhist and psychological perspectives on emotions and well-being, by Paul Ekman, Richard J. Davidson, Matthieu Ricard, and B. Alan Wallace, Current Directions in Psychological Science 2005, 14(2)
This paper presents a Buddhist perspective on the achievement of durable happiness and the nature of afflictive and nonafflictive emotions.
Read moreMeasuring happiness: from fluctuating happiness to authenticdurable happiness, by Michaël Dambrun, Matthieu Ricard, et al, Frontiers in Personality Science and Individual Differences 2012
Based on the theoretical model set down by Michaël Dambrun and Matthieu Ricard on the distinction between self-centeredness and selflessness, this study proposes findings on how a self-centered psychological functioning only produces fluctuating happiness while a selfless functioning leads to …
Read moreSelf-centeredness and selflessness: A theory of self-based psychological functioning and its consequences for happiness, by Michaël Dambrun and Matthieu Ricard, Review of General Psychology 2011, Vol. 15, No. 2
In this paper, Michaël Dambrun and Matthieu Ricard explore a theoretical model according to which authentic-durable happiness is linked to a selfless psychological functioning.
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