Love. There is no other way to say it. Like many deeply spiritual people, Johnny Pollard exuded love. I felt it immediately when he walked into my lab back in 2012.  

My team had been running neuroscience experiments measuring brain activity during group rituals—powerful social practices that have been part of human culture for millennia. With support from the John Templeton Foundation and in collaboration with Dr. Jeff Schloss, we sought to understand how these shared experiences affect emotional connection and prosocial behaviors.

We measured brain activity and behaviors across a wide variety of rituals.  In one study of 500 people, we discovered something striking: when participants' brains released oxytocin during a ritual, they were just as likely to share money with out-group members (people who weren’t part of the ritual) as with in-group members. Money sharing is used in these studies to quantify the degree of cooperation. This was significant. It challenged a deep evolutionary bias seen in both humans and animals: to favor those within our social group.  

Our lab had already spent years mapping the brain’s socio-emotional valuation network—the system responsible for assigning emotional and social significance to experiences. When this network is activated, the brain releases oxytocin, signaling that it perceives the experience as highly immersive and valuable. 

What the data from this study revealed was that oxytocin release melts the self-other divide. During the 15–20 minutes following oxytocin release, people feel a powerful sense of connection and are more likely to act with empathy and kindness—even toward strangers.

Let’s take a brief detour on oxytocin. Some have speculated about a so-called “dark side”, which is simply not true. These claims typically involve studies that gave people very large synthetic doses of oxytocin, often using protocols I originally developed. My lab has shown that even these high doses don’t induce antisocial behavior unless participants are also explicitly instructed to act badly by researchers. That’s because oxytocin enhances empathy, making participants more likely to follow emotional cues—especially from authority figures like research administrators.

This does not happen with the brain’s natural (endogenous) oxytocin system. It’s precise, highly sensitive to context, and always activated in response to neurologic Value—not manipulation. There is no dark side to oxytocin or the brain's socio-emotional valuation system.

Now back to our multiyear study of rituals—we ran several experiments studying various types of meditation, including those in small and large groups. This is how I met Johnny—he volunteered to guide meditators in several of our studies.

We first compared experienced and inexperienced meditators in small groups.  We did not find much difference in brain activity, which surprised us.  But, Johnny shared that size in collective meditation events may matter. In 2013, he was scheduled to lead 1500 people in mass meditation at the music festival called Lightning in a Bottle. With approval from the festival organizers and my university’s ethics review board, we set out to measure the emotional and neurochemical effects of this extraordinary experience. 

This was more than a decade ago—before we developed real-time tools like our free SIX app, which now helps users track when their brain is getting Value using the smartwatch they already wear. Back then, our best method required drawing blood to identify markers of Value–specifically, oxytocin.

My team showed up to the festival and commandeered a trailer with electrical power where we processed around 100 tubes of blood to isolate and freeze blood plasma. This allowed us to compare the neurochemical activity in participants before and after meditation. I also hired two experienced phlebotomists for what we called "cowboy phlebotomy”—fast, sterile blood draws in tough conditions to ensure we captured what was happening in the brain as quickly as possible.

With five minutes to go before the mass meditation started, I had my centrifuges, pipettes, and microtubes ready to process the blood in a comfy air conditioned trailer, when one of my doctoral students called me in a panic. One of the two phlebotomists had not shown up and the meditation event was about to start. I was the backup phlebotomist. I sprinted out into our field blood draw station in 100 degree heat and instructed my team to hand me blood draw kits and tubes. I did not even have latex gloves on before I did the first several blood draws. This was really cowboy phlebotomy. Gloves please!  Then, I kept on drawing blood to establish a baseline. 

Next, I ran the tubes back to the trailer and started to centrifuge them.  And then back to the field for the post-meditation blood draw.  

Watching participants after the meditation, we could see the emotional impact. Some were in tears. One person wanted to hug me ("of course, but after the blood draw"). These were not casual experiences; they were deeply emotional and transformative.

Once we were done with the second blood draw, the entire team went to the trailer and we spent an hour processing all the blood samples and putting them on dry ice for transport to the ultracold freezer in my lab.

The results were powerful. About half of participants showed clear neurochemical signatures that their brains had received significant Value from the experience—three times higher than we had observed in our small group meditation studies.

In the SIX app, we call these peak moments of high neurologic Value Key Moments—they’re the brain’s way of telling us, “This matters.” They often correspond with peak emotional experiences that build what we call emotional fitness. And we know from research that people who have six or more Key Moments per day are objectively thriving—they are passionately engaged in life's experiences and connecting powerfully with other people.  

But not everyone at Lightning in a Bottle had a Key Moment. And that’s exactly the point. What’s valuable to your brain isn’t always valuable to mine—even if we’re experiencing the same thing. Factors like fatigue, hydration, or mood can influence whether the experience creates a spike in neurologic Immersion. Further, the brain loves novelty, and for those who meditate regularly in group scenarios, they may not get the same level of neurologic Value as others. 

That’s exactly why we created the SIX app. SIX exists to help you discover what your brain finds most valuable. The app links to your smartwatch and calendar to detect your Key Moments in real time. Over time, it builds a personalized understanding of what drives Value for you—so you can do more of what helps you feel energized, inspired, and fulfilled.

Self-learning and increased self-awareness empowers people to make better choices in order to get more Key Moments by doing more of what helps them flourish. Key Moments are generated in evolutionarily old parts of the brain so we are seldom aware of them consciously. By creating technology that brings users' unconscious emotional responses into conscious awareness, they can curate their lives to thrive by having more Key Moments.

And here's the fascinating part: Value isn’t static. What generates a Key Moment today might not tomorrow. The brain craves novelty. Meditating with thousands at a festival might be a Key Moment the first time—or the tenth. But by the fiftieth, it may no longer activate up your brain’s socio-emotional valuation network in the same way.

We’ve created SIX to adapt to you—it is designed to continuously empower you to learn what’s helping you thrive at any point in life. SIX's AI assistant will offer suggestions, based on each individual’s data, for new things to do in order to have Key Moments. Thriving requires growing, having new experiences, meeting new people, and having adventures. SIX is the guide to not only being happier, but extending one's playspan—the time we have to play the game of life.  

And maybe your next Key Moment is waiting at a festival like Lightning in a Bottle. Or maybe it’s in a quiet walk, a moment of connection, or your next meditation session.

Wherever it is—SIX can help you find it.

🎉 Want to measure yourself during meditation?

We’re partnering with AI Wellness later this year to measure the largest group meditation ever hosted. As a preview, we’re kicking things off at FITEXPO Anaheim on August 3rd, 2025. Join us and see how much your brain connects!