Sara W. Lazar

17.9k total citations · 7 hit papers
84 papers, 11.7k citations indexed

About

Sara W. Lazar is a scholar working on Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. According to data from OpenAlex, Sara W. Lazar has authored 84 papers receiving a total of 11.7k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 56 papers in Clinical Psychology, 41 papers in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology and 29 papers in Cognitive Neuroscience. Recurrent topics in Sara W. Lazar's work include Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions (53 papers), Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes (34 papers) and Functional Brain Connectivity Studies (13 papers). Sara W. Lazar is often cited by papers focused on Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions (53 papers), Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes (34 papers) and Functional Brain Connectivity Studies (13 papers). Sara W. Lazar collaborates with scholars based in United States, Germany and Netherlands. Sara W. Lazar's co-authors include Britta K. Hölzel, Tim Gard, David R. Vago, Ulrich Ott, Zev Schuman‐Olivier, Karleyton C. Evans, Koene R. A. Van Dijk, Randy L. Buckner, Archana Venkataraman and Trey Hedden and has published in prestigious journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Lancet and Nature Communications.

In The Last Decade

Sara W. Lazar

83 papers receiving 11.1k citations

Hit Papers

align trajectories sort by overperformance

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective

2011 1.9k citations Britta K. Hölzel, Sara W. Lazar et al. profile →
Intrinsic Functional Connectivity As a Tool For Human Connectomics: Theory, Properties, and Optimization

2009 1.5k citations Sara W. Lazar et al. profile →
Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density

2010 1.1k citations Britta K. Hölzel, Tim Gard et al. profile →
Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness

2005 1.0k citations Sara W. Lazar, Catherine E. Kerr et al. profile →
Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation

2017 950 citations David R. Vago, Sara W. Lazar et al. profile →
Contemplating Mindfulness at Work

2015 645 citations Kirk Warren Brown, Judson A. Brewer et al. profile →
Moving Beyond Mindfulness: Defining Equanimity as an Outcome Measure in Meditation and Contemplative Research

2014 315 citations Tim Gard, Elizabeth A. Hoge et al. profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name	h						Papers	Cites
Sara W. Lazar United States	36	7.2k	3.9k	3.5k	2.2k	1.6k	84	11.7k
B. J. Casey United States	43	4.3k 0.6×	7.0k 1.8×	2.8k 0.8×	1.9k 0.9×	2.5k 1.6×	80	14.1k
F. Gerard Moeller United States	61	5.2k 0.7×	2.9k 0.7×	2.4k 0.7×	1.2k 0.5×	3.7k 2.3×	251	13.3k
Roman Kotov United States	55	7.1k 1.0×	2.4k 0.6×	4.9k 1.4×	1.8k 0.8×	2.7k 1.7×	244	12.5k
Todd A. Hare Switzerland	42	5.1k 0.7×	9.1k 2.4×	4.5k 1.3×	3.0k 1.4×	1.5k 0.9×	77	17.1k
Shuqiao Yao China	43	3.2k 0.4×	2.7k 0.7×	2.2k 0.6×	1.2k 0.5×	1.4k 0.8×	247	7.6k
Seth D. Pollak United States	54	6.6k 0.9×	3.4k 0.9×	2.5k 0.7×	3.0k 1.4×	1.2k 0.8×	147	13.5k
Adriana Galván United States	43	3.1k 0.4×	4.0k 1.0×	2.5k 0.7×	1.6k 0.7×	1.1k 0.7×	115	9.2k
Dean McKay United States	53	7.1k 1.0×	4.2k 1.1×	3.8k 1.1×	1.6k 0.7×	1.3k 0.8×	232	11.1k
Samuel R. Chamberlain United Kingdom	62	9.6k 1.3×	6.5k 1.7×	3.4k 1.0×	811 0.4×	3.4k 2.1×	354	16.8k
Antonio Verdejo‐García Spain	57	4.3k 0.6×	3.8k 1.0×	2.7k 0.8×	765 0.3×	2.5k 1.5×	323	12.0k

Countries citing papers authored by Sara W. Lazar

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Sara W. Lazar's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Sara W. Lazar with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Sara W. Lazar more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Sara W. Lazar

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Sara W. Lazar. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Sara W. Lazar. The network helps show where Sara W. Lazar may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Sara W. Lazar

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Sara W. Lazar. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Sara W. Lazar based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Sara W. Lazar. Sara W. Lazar is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

Sort: Min cites: Since: Top N: Style:

20 of 20 papers shown

Braver, Todd S. & Sara W. Lazar. (2025). Introduction to the Special Issue on Mindfulness: Measurement, Methods, Mechanisms, & Mental Health. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science. 5(3). 100475–100475.

Wen, Zhenfu, Edward F. Pace‐Schott, Sara W. Lazar, et al.. (2024). Distributed neural representations of conditioned threat in the human brain. Nature Communications. 15(1). 2231–2231. 12 indexed citations

Saper, Robert, Andreas V. Alexopoulos, Jane B. Allendorfer, et al.. (2024). Proceedings of the 2022 “Lifestyle Intervention for Epilepsy (LIFE)” symposium hosted by Cleveland Clinic. Epilepsia Open. 9(5). 1981–1996. 2 indexed citations

Datko, Michael, et al.. (2024). Neural correlates of reduction in self-judgment after mindful self-compassion training: A pilot study with resting state fMRI. SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología. 9. 100096–100096. 2 indexed citations

Lazar, Sara W., et al.. (2023). Do contemplative practices make us more moral?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 27(10). 916–931. 5 indexed citations

Wen, Zhenfu, Candace M. Raio, Edward F. Pace‐Schott, et al.. (2022). Temporally and anatomically specific contributions of the human amygdala to threat and safety learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119(26). e2204066119–e2204066119. 35 indexed citations

Bowen, Chris V., et al.. (2022). Top-down threat bias in pain perception is predicted by intrinsic structural and functional connections of the brain. NeuroImage. 258. 119349–119349. 5 indexed citations

Braun, Tosca D., Jessica L. Unick, Ana M. Abrantes, et al.. (2021). Intuitive eating buffers the link between internalized weight stigma and body mass index in stressed adults. Appetite. 169. 105810–105810. 4 indexed citations

Braun, Tosca D., Kristen E. Riley, Zachary J. Kunicki, et al.. (2021). Internalized weight stigma and intuitive eating among stressed adults during a mindful yoga intervention: associations with changes in mindfulness and self-compassion. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. 9(1). 933–950. 11 indexed citations

10.

Devaney, Kathryn J., et al.. (2021). Attention and Default Mode Network Assessments of Meditation Experience during Active Cognition and Rest. Brain Sciences. 11(5). 566–566. 12 indexed citations

11.

Schuman‐Olivier, Zev, Marcelo Trombka, David Lovas, et al.. (2020). Mindfulness and Behavior Change. Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 28(6). 371–394. 210 indexed citations

12.

Park, Crystal L., Lucy Finkelstein‐Fox, Shane J. Sacco, Tosca D. Braun, & Sara W. Lazar. (2020). How does yoga reduce stress? A clinical trial testing psychological mechanisms. Stress and Health. 37(1). 116–126. 36 indexed citations

13.

Sevinc, Günes, Britta K. Hölzel, Jonathan Greenberg, et al.. (2019). Strengthened Hippocampal Circuits Underlie Enhanced Retrieval of Extinguished Fear Memories Following Mindfulness Training. Biological Psychiatry. 86(9). 693–702. 44 indexed citations

14.

Vago, David R., et al.. (2018). Measuring cognitive outcomes in mindfulness-based intervention research: a reflection on confounding factors and methodological limitations. Current Opinion in Psychology. 28. 143–150. 34 indexed citations

15.

Jong, Marasha de, Frenk Peeters, Tim Gard, et al.. (2017). A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Unipolar Depression in Patients With Chronic Pain. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 79(1). 26–34. 22 indexed citations

16.

Lazar, Sara W., et al.. (2015). Point process time-frequency analysis of dynamic respiratory patterns during meditation practice. ANU Open Research (Australian National University). 11 indexed citations

17.

Hölzel, Britta K., Elizabeth A. Hoge, Douglas N. Greve, et al.. (2013). Neural mechanisms of symptom improvements in generalized anxiety disorder following mindfulness training. NeuroImage Clinical. 2. 448–458. 208 indexed citations

18.

Deckersbach, Thilo, Britta K. Hölzel, Lori Eisner, et al.. (2011). Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy for Nonremitted Patients with Bipolar Disorder. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics. 18(2). 133–141. 86 indexed citations

19.

Kerr, Catherine E., Stephanie R. Jones, Qian Wan, et al.. (2011). Effects of mindfulness meditation training on anticipatory alpha modulation in primary somatosensory cortex. Brain Research Bulletin. 85(3-4). 96–103. 98 indexed citations

20.

Lazar, Sara W. & Matthew K. Waldor. (1998). ToxR-Independent Expression of Cholera Toxin from the Replicative Form of CTXφ. Infection and Immunity. 66(1). 394–397. 39 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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