Podcast: The Science of Psychedelics for Mental Health

This episode stars Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He is one of the leading researchers in the study of how psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD and DMT can alter the human brain and thereby be used for various mental health problems such as major depression, anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addiction.

In this podcast, he explains how psilocybin produces sustained changes in adaptive brain wiring and cognition. We discuss the key components of safe and effective psychedelic travel, the role of hallucinations, the use of eye masks to encourage people to "go within", and music, as well as what constitutes effective therapist support before, during, and after the session (also called integration).

Psychedelics: micro versus macro dosage

We discuss microdosing versus macrodosing and how researchers control for placebo effects in psychedelic research. We also discuss the current legal landscape around psychedelic therapies. Psychedelic therapies are quickly emerging as powerful and soon to be mainstream treatments for medical conditions, but they are not without risks. As such, this episode should be useful to anyone interested in brain plasticity, mental health, psychology, or neuroscience.

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