Well-Being Can Be Trained Like Any Skill, Neuroscientist Tells USU Lecture Audience

At USU's Brain, Behavior & Mind lecture, Dr. Richard Davidson shared research on training well-being, from classrooms to the military.

September 29, 2026 by USU News

Well-being is a skill that people can learn and strengthen with practice, neuroscientist Dr. Richard J. Davidson told a virtual audience Sept. 23 during the fall Brain, Behavior & Mind lecture hosted by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU).

The webinar, sponsored by USU's Consortium for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS), had Davidson, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sharing highlights from two decades of research.

CSTS organized the lecture with USU's Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience Program, Consortium for Defense Psychology, Department of Family Medicine, and Brain and Behavior Hub. The series, known until 2025 as the Amygdala, Stress and PTSD conference, connects laboratory research with clinical care for service members and others in high-stress jobs. Its 2025 conference drew attendees from all 50 states.

CSTS Director Dr. Stephen Cozza opened the session, and U.S. Army Col. (Dr.) Vincent Capaldi, chair of USU's Department of Psychiatry, moderated.

Davidson began with evidence of growing isolation. He cited the 2023 U.S. Surgeon General advisory "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation," which likened the mortality risk of social disconnection to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. He also cited the 2025 World Happiness Report, which shows U.S. well-being declining relative to other large nations.

His central argument is that the qualities that help people thrive are present from birth but need practice to develop. His central argument is that the qualities that help people thrive are present from birth but need practice to develop. He refers to it as "Born to Flourish," the name of a book he recently co-authored.

Explaining the choice, Davidson said, "I used this specific title to underscore the fact that the qualities of flourishing that every human being has…are qualities we're all born with, but also require nurturing in order to be fully expressed."

He organizes the research around four pillars. Awareness includes attention and what scientists call meta-awareness, knowing what your own mind is doing. Connection covers appreciation, kindness, and compassion. Insight involves self-inquiry, including changing one's relationship to negative beliefs about oneself. Purpose means clarifying values and finding meaning in daily life.

His lab has tracked brain changes tied to that kind of practice. A 2004 study from his group found high-frequency gamma brain waves in long-term meditators. Later work found changes in white matter connections among people who completed a two-month mindfulness course of about 30 hours.

Connection can also be trained, Davidson said. In a randomized trial, participants who completed two weeks of compassion meditation made more altruistic choices in an economic decision-making game than a group trained in cognitive reappraisal, which teaches people to reframe a situation. "Connection and the skills of connection can indeed be trained," he said.

His lab studied insight through pain. Participants heard a tone warning that a burst of heat would follow 10 seconds later. In people without meditation experience, the brain's pain network activated during the wait, before any heat arrived. Long-term meditators showed less of that response, suggesting pain may be separated from the suffering built around it.

During a question-and-answer session led by CSTS Deputy Director U.S. Army Maj. (Dr.) Tom Nassif, Davidson described where the research goes next. After published studies with firefighters and other first responders, the next step is large trials inside organizations that track long-term outcomes, he said. In the military, one of those outcomes is suicide, and he believes well-being training could reduce that risk well before a crisis.

Early results suggest the benefits spread. In a Louisville school district study involving about 11,000 students, students did better when their teachers received well-being training. A study of more than 2,000 emergency department physicians and nurses found early signs of organizational change where some staff were trained. Davidson cautioned against overselling the data but said training people in positions of influence, such as teachers and healthcare providers, may reach far more people than the trainees themselves.

He said one slogan has emerged from that work: "We think flourishing is contagious."

Asked about research on the risks of meditation, Davidson said simple daily practices appear low risk for most people. He advised those with serious psychiatric illness, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, to practice under the guidance of a mental health professional.

Cozza closed by thanking Davidson for a practical, science-backed approach to mental training. A recording and transcript will be available from CSTS. The next Brain, Behavior & Mind one-day conference is scheduled for April 20, 2027.