Richard Davidson

At a glance

• American psychologist and professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
• Founded and chairs the Center for Healthy Minds; the non-profit Healthy Minds Innovations turns that research into practical training, including an app.
• Has spent decades studying how emotions work in the brain and how meditation and mental training can change brain activity, stress responses and wellbeing.
• Co-wrote ‘The Emotional Life of Your Brain’ with Sharon Begley and ‘Altered Traits’ with Daniel Goleman, a critical look at what meditation research does and does not show.
• He also points out the limits of meditation research, such as small samples and weak control groups, which makes his work more reliable than many popular mindfulness claims.
• Relevant to longevity because chronic stress is linked to poorer sleep, inflammation and cardiovascular risk; his work shows which mental skills can be trained and how strong the evidence is. Recently a guest on FoundMyFitness discussing meditation, the gut and the immune system.