Advanced Meditation Can ‘Reset’ the Brain

Meditation is mostly mainstream, with many people using mindfulness
to manage stress. But dedicated practitioners of advanced
meditation move beyond mindfulness into a state where consciousness
“entirely falls away.” That’s according to today’s guest: Matthew
Sacchet, an associate professor and director of the Meditation
Research Program at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts
General Hospital. Sacchet tells host Rachel Feltman about his
journey from youthful meditator to neuroscience researcher. Plus,
they discuss what meditation and psychedelic experiences are
unlocking for consciousness researchers. Recommended reading: Read
a feature co-authored by Sacchet in the July issue of SciAm 
And see our June issue feature on the neuroscience of near-death
experiences E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any
questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover
something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign
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Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper,
Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by
Rachel Feltman with guest Matthew Sacchet. Our show is edited by
Madison Goldberg and Anaissa Ruiz Tejada, with fact-checking by
Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by
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