The CLANlab studies contemplative, affective, and clinical neuroscience. Co-directed by neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Willoughby Britton, Ph.D., and religious studies scholar Jared Lindahl, Ph.D., the lab researches the effects of contemplative practices on cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological processes in both clinical and non-clinical settings.
Studies in clinical settings have examined the psychological and neurophysiological effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in samples with a range of conditions, including anxiety, depression, stress, sleep problems, trauma, substance abuse, and chronic or terminal illness.
Studies in non-clinical settings have investigated the effects of school-based mindfulness training programs in both middle schoolers, college students, medical students and residents, and physicians and nurses. We have also recently completed a qualitative study on “The Varieties of Contemplative Experience,” which investigates the range of experiences associated with meditation based upon interviews with more than 60 Buddhist practitioners and 30 Buddhist teachers.
The CLANlab is especially interested in investigating practice-specific effects, moderators of treatment outcome, and meditation safety or, in other words, “Which practices are best or worst suited for which types of people or conditions and why?”
We are located in Room 232 of the BioMed Complex Building at Brown University, 171 Meeting Street, Providence, RI.