Daniel Goleman & Richard J. Davidson Books
Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and science journalist best known for his work on emotional intelligence. Richard J.
Known for: Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
Books by Daniel Goleman & Richard J. Davidson
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
Meditation is often marketed as a fast route to relaxation, but Altered Traits argues that its real promise is far deeper: with sustained practice, meditation can reshape enduring patterns of attention, emotion, behavior, and even biology. In this rigorous yet accessible book, psychologist Daniel Goleman and neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson sift through decades of research to separate hype from evidence. Their central distinction is powerful: meditation can produce short-lived altered states, but its most meaningful impact appears when those states become lasting traits. What makes this book especially valuable is the authority behind it. Goleman, best known for popularizing emotional intelligence, brings clarity and breadth to the psychological implications of contemplative practice. Davidson, a pioneering affective neuroscientist, contributes laboratory precision and deep expertise in brain research. Together, they evaluate studies on attention, stress, compassion, resilience, and neural plasticity, while also acknowledging the field’s methodological weaknesses. The result is neither spiritual salesmanship nor cynical dismissal. It is a balanced, evidence-based exploration of how meditation works, what kinds of practice lead to which outcomes, and why disciplined inner training may be one of the most important tools we have for cultivating a healthier mind and life.
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Meditation Entered Science Through Skepticism
A practice can be ancient and still be misunderstood when it enters a modern laboratory. One of the book’s most revealing insights is that early scientific research on meditation was filled with confusion, overstatement, and weak methods. In the 1960s and 1970s, Western researchers became fascinated...
From Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
States Fade, Traits Remain
Feeling calm during meditation is not the same as becoming a calmer person. This distinction between temporary states and enduring traits is the intellectual backbone of Altered Traits. A meditative state is what happens while you practice or shortly afterward: slower breathing, reduced stress, shar...
From Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
Better Research Reveals Real Benefits
The strongest evidence for meditation emerges when researchers stop asking whether it is vaguely “good for you” and start measuring specific outcomes. Goleman and Davidson repeatedly emphasize that serious progress in contemplative science came from methodological rigor. That means randomized trials...
From Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
Attention Is a Trainable Mental Muscle
In an economy of distraction, the ability to place and sustain attention may be one of the most valuable capacities a person can develop. Altered Traits presents meditation first and foremost as attention training. Whether focusing on the breath, bodily sensations, sounds, or present-moment awarenes...
From Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
Emotional Balance Can Be Learned
Most people assume their emotional style is largely fixed: some are anxious, some reactive, some resilient. Goleman and Davidson challenge that assumption by showing that meditation can alter how quickly and intensely we respond to emotional events. The key is not suppressing feeling but changing ou...
From Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
Compassion Is More Than a Feeling
Kindness is often treated as a moral ideal, but Altered Traits presents compassion as a trainable capacity with measurable effects. One of the book’s most compelling claims is that certain forms of meditation do not merely calm the practitioner; they actively cultivate prosocial qualities such as em...
From Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body
About Daniel Goleman & Richard J. Davidson
Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and science journalist best known for his work on emotional intelligence. Richard J. Davidson is a neuroscientist and founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specializing in the study of emotion and the brain.
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Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and science journalist best known for his work on emotional intelligence. Richard J.
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