Introduction

We use neuroimaging and behavioral approaches to investigate neural processes underlying mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), Tai Chi and other somatically focused mind-body therapies. We are specifically interested in neural processes underlying touch perception and bodily feelings.

How do touch perception and bodily feelings become abnormal in illnesses such as chronic pain or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? Do therapies such as mindfulness based stress reduction and Tai Chi work by eliciting changes in neural processes and structures that encode touch and bodily sensations? These are some of the questions we are investigating in the laboratory.