Discussion Overview: The Neuroscience of Mindfulness & Addiction

Dr. Judson Brewer, M.D., Ph.D. is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, author, and Founder of MindSciences, Inc. He is one of the world’s leading experts on the neuroscience of meditation, having studied the brains of meditation masters in his lab. Dr. Brewer has specifically applied his skill set toward combatting addictions.

In this episode of The FitMind Podcast, we talk about thought addiction, using mindfulness to treat anxiety, eating disorders and smoking addiction, the neuroscientific mechanisms of addiction, subjective bias, and the latest cutting-edge research into the neuroscience of mindfulness.

Dr. Judson Brewer Bio

Dr. Jud, as he's known, has spent over 20 years at Yale, MIT, and Brown University researching how the brain forms negative behavior patterns, bad habits, and addictions, and has developed meditation-based techniques for creating lasting change. His work has received funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Heart Association (AHA). He is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center and associate professor in psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University, as well as a research affiliate at MIT.

Dr. Jud has been featured on CNN's 60 Minutes, Forbes, TIME, NPR and has the 4th most popular TED talk of 2016 with over 10 million views. He also wrote a book called The Craving Mind, which I highly recommend and has trained US Olympic coaches.

Dr. Jud's mindfulness-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety are apps called (respectively) Craving to Quit, Eat Right Now, and Unwinding Anxiety. For more information about Dr. Jud and his apps, you can visit his website.

Note: If you’re serious about starting or deepening your meditation practice, check out the FitMind meditation app.

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