Is compassion a skill that can be perfected, like playing a musical instrument or competing in sports? A study published this spring suggests: Yes. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin assert that cultivating compassion and kindness through learned meditation practices can make a person more empathetic.

Previous studies have pinpointed the insula and anterior congulate cortices in empathetic responses. Researchers recently investigated the voluntary generation of compassion in this neuronal network by asking participants to engage in compassion meditation, and measuring their brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Read more →