Former head of the Human Brain Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Svyatoslav Medvedev has died.

Svyatoslav Medvedev, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and one of the leading researchers in the field of neuroscience, has died at the age of 75. His death was announced by Academician of the Russian Academy of Education (RAO) Tatiana Chernihiv.

"A great loss: our friend and colleague, a great scientist, has passed away. Blessed memory!" — told Chernigov "RIA Novosti".

Svyatoslav Medvedev was the son of the legendary neurophysiologist Natalia Bekhtereva. He was born on July 1, 1949 in Leningrad and devoted his life to studying the work of the human brain. From 1991 to 2017, he headed the Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he founded Russia's first positron emission tomography laboratory.

The scientist was also engaged in unique projects at the intersection of science and spiritual practices, in particular, the study of the special states of consciousness of monks in Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. In 2021, he presented to the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso scientific data on the existence of the state of "tukdam", a special form of meditation after death, which Tibetan monks talk about.

Medvedev was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, and prizes from the scientific field.