Speaker: Dr. Liz Pang

Seminar will be conducted online via Zoom @ 5:30 pm EDT

Abstract

Mindfulness is a concept that has been receiving a lot of attention in our popular culture.  As a basic concept, it is defined as having a moment-by-moment awareness of what is happening in one’s own self and in one’s surroundings while holding an open and non-judgemental attitude.  Cultivated primarily by the practice of mindfulness meditation, mindfulness has claimed to offer a list of mental and physical health benefits.  The advent of modern brain imaging has allowed these claims to be tested and there is now substantial evidence that a practice of mindfulness meditation can change the brain in beneficial ways.  This talk will present some of this research, demonstrate some mindfulness practices, and discuss some of the benefits from a neuroscience perspective.

About Speaker

Dr. Liz Pang, Ph.D. is a neurophysiologist and Senior Associate Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children.  Dr. Pang’s research programme uses brain imaging techniques to examine the development of cognitive brain function in typically developing children and in children who do not develop typically.  Dr. Pang has published 120+ research articles in journals including Nature Neuroscience, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and Human Brain Mapping, and she has presented her work at conferences around the world.  In her personal pursuit of mental wellness, Dr. Pang experienced the benefits of mindfulness meditation and was motivated to understand the neuroscience that underpins a mindfulness practice.  Impressed by the evidence, Dr. Pang now teaches a course on the Neuroscience of Mindfulness and Mindfulness Meditation at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. 

She can be reached at elizabeth.pang@utoronto.ca