What the Beatles Gave Science

In the spring of 1968, the Fab Four traveled to the Maharishi's ashram overlooking the Ganges River in northern India, where they meditated for hours each day in search of enlightenment. The high-profile visit still echoes 40 years later—in, of all places, science, for the trip popularized the notion that the spiritual East has something to teach the rational West.

Afraid to sully their reputations, it took three decades for scientists to ask the obvious: does meditation change the brain? Top hospitals from Stanford to Duke are convinced: they have instituted meditation programs for patients suffering chronic pain and other ailments.

Newsweek: What the Beatles Gave Science