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Study finds that meditation may help stimulate the brain’s waste removal system, providing restorative benefits like sleep

New research is informing how mindfulness meditation contributes to improvements in cognitive health and may have relevance to treating a range of degenerative brain conditions.

DogTalk Q&A

Norman, Squid, and Velour get candid with Pi, an honorary member of News & Communications, when she asks very important questions about treats, sleeping, and if they play like regular dogs.

Sit, stay, heal: Meet the facility dogs of Vanderbilt Health

More than a pet project, facility dogs can lower patient blood pressure, reduce pain perception, ease loneliness and fear and offer an important form of medicine — connection.

Inaugural Terrell Smith Lecture stresses the importance of a ‘people-first’ mindset

Jason Wolf, PhD, CPXP, president and CEO of the Beryl Institute, kicked off the series with “Returning to the Heart of Care: Human Experience is Our True North.”

Sedative choice could improve outcomes for breathing tube patients

It’s the first study to demonstrate cardiovascular risks of high doses of ketamine (low blood pressure, arrhythmia), side effects that have not been well studied in the past.

Stephan Heckers to step down after two decades as Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences chair

Heckers is currently VUMC’s longest serving clinical department chair. He credits his longevity to the department’s culture and tradition of steady leadership, with each of the three previous chairs serving for periods of similar length.