Prof. Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
University of Haifa · Neuroscience of consciousness
Aviva Berkovich-Ohana is a Professor at the University of Haifa, Israel, and a leading researcher in the neuroscience of consciousness. Her interdisciplinary work explores expanded consciousness, including states and traits related with meditation, psychedelics, near-death experiences, and enlightenment. Her work integrates neuroscience, phenomenology, and contemplative traditions to investigate the nature of consciousness and the post-conventional transformation of human experience. She has published over 80 scientific papers and book chapters, edited the MIT Press volume Perspectives on Consciousness, and has also led meditation retreats, bringing together scientific inquiry with contemplative practice.
During the retreat, Prof. Berkovich-Ohana will present her research at the intersection of science and spirituality. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience alongside first-person contemplative experience, she will explore how modern research is illuminating meditation, self-transcendence, and other transformative states of consciousness, offering a scientific perspective on experiences that have long been cultivated and described within spiritual traditions.