The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Attention, Habit Change, and Anxiety

About this pathway

How does mindfulness change the brain — and how can that science inform clinical work? With Richard Davidson, Rick Hanson, and Judson Brewer, this course establishes the scientific and neurobiological foundations of evidence-based mindfulness practice: attention regulation, neuroplasticity, default mode network activity, and reward-based learning. Beginning with Davidson's landmark research on the plasticity of well-being and Hanson's methods for turning beneficial states into lasting traits, the pathway culminates in Brewer's three-part sequence — from the neuroscience of self-referential processing, to the habit loops driving eating behavior, to the reward-learning mechanisms underlying anxiety. Participants leave with a rigorous, brain-based framework for understanding how mindfulness-based change actually occurs, and research-grounded explanations they can use in psychoeducation with clients and patients.

The 5 sessions · 9.5 CE contact hours

Each session is a recorded video with an assessment. The filed learning objectives are listed under every module.

1. 

   01· 1.5 hrs· Richard J. Davidson, PhD

   The Neuroscience of Mindfulness and Well-Being

   Davidson's four-pillar framework (awareness, connection, insight, purpose); neuroplasticity, attention regulation, and resilience as rapid recovery from adversity.

   Learning objectives

   • Identify the four core dimensions of well-being (awareness, connection, insight, and purpose) and describe how each dimension relates to neuroplasticity and contemplative practice.
   • Explain the concept of resilience as a form of ‘rapid recovery from adversity’ and describe associated neuroscience research findings demonstrating differential recovery patterns in meditation practitioners.
2. 

   02· 2 hrs· Rick Hanson, PhD

   Attention, Neuroplasticity & the Cultivation of Well-Being

   Default mode network, interoception, and the insula; positive neuroplasticity and how repeated mental states convert into lasting traits.

   Learning objectives

   • Describe how mindfulness practice reduces activity in brain regions associated with mind-wandering, rumination, and self-focused thinking, including the default mode network.
   • Explain the process of positive neuroplasticity, including how deliberately cultivating beneficial mental states through repeated practice has been linked to lasting changes in neural structure and function through state-to-trait learning.
3. 

   03· 1.75 hrs· Judson Brewer, MD, PhD

   The Process of Selfing: Neuroscience & the Construction of Identity

   fMRI and real-time neurofeedback findings on self-referential processing; dependent origination and open/closed experiential states.

   Learning objectives

   • Describe the current understanding on neurological mechanisms by which the brain constructs and maintains a sense of self — including the roles of the DMN, mPFC, and PCC — and explain how mindfulness practice can reduce activation in these self-referential networks.
   • Apply the framework of dependent origination and open/closed experiential states to identify how craving, clinging, and behavioral reinforcement contribute to habitual identity formation in clinical and educational contexts.
4. 

   04· 1.75 hrs· Judson Brewer, MD, PhD

   Mindful Eating: Neuroscience & Awareness-Based Interventions

   Homeostatic vs. hedonic hunger, the dopamine reward loop, and a three-step framework for working with eating habits without relying on willpower.

   Learning objectives

   • Explain the neuroscience of eating behavior, including the distinction between homeostatic and hedonic hunger, the role of dopamine posited in reinforcement learning, and why willpower-based approaches are often found to be ineffective.
   • Apply a three-step awareness-based framework for addressing eating habits: mapping habit loops, updating reward value through mindful attention, and cultivating curiosity as an alternative to reactive eating.
5. 

   05· 2.5 hrs· Judson Brewer, MD, PhD

   Unwinding Anxiety: Habit Loops & Reward-Based Learning

   Anxiety as a habit loop; the Rescorla-Wagner prediction error model; cultivating curiosity and kind awareness as a 'bigger, better offer.'

   Learning objectives

   • Explain how anxiety operates as a habit loop through reward-based learning mechanisms in the brain.
   • Apply a three-step awareness-based framework for working with anxiety in professional practice.

Questions clinicians ask

The other pathways in this curriculum

• Pathway IIGuiding and Teaching Mindfulness: Ethics, Skill, and Adaptations for Adults and Children8 CE contact hours · 4 sessionsJames Baraz, MA · Donald Rothberg, PhD · Susan Kaiser Greenland, JD · Rick Hanson, PhD$149
• Pathway IIIWorking with Shame and Grief: Self-Compassion and Emotional Resilience in Clinical Practice8.5 CE contact hours · 4 sessionsChristopher Germer, PhD · Francis Weller, MFT · Myra Walden, MA · Bob Wentworth, PhD · Fiona Brandon, MPS, MA, LMFT$169
• Pathway IVTrauma-Sensitive Mindfulness and Clinical Safety: Adverse Effects, Serious Illness, and Chronic Pain11.5 CE contact hours · 6 sessionsWilloughby Britton, PhD · David Treleaven, PhD · Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN · Vidyamala Burch, OBE · Oren Jay Sofer$227

Taking all four? The complete bundle covers 37.5 CE contact hours and saves $227 versus enrolling separately.