PODCAST · science
Psychedelic Brain Science
by Psychedelic Brain Science
Psychedelic Brain Science is a multimedia approach dedicated to bringing scientific, psychological, anthropological, and cultural information as it relates to psychedelics. Join scientists Alaina Jaster, PhD and Zarmeen Zahid, PhD as they work to provide better understanding of the ongoing research about psychedelics through their two segments: Your Brain on Science and Your Brain Beyond Science. Content only reflects opinions of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/psychedelicbrainscience/support
Episodes
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Microdosing Skepticism Revisited
It's been 3 years since the last microdosing review...and 20+ papers have come out since making it necessary to revisit the microdosing scientific literature and check-in with Dr. Jaster. Is she still a microdosing skeptic? Listen to this rapid fire breakdown of some the key themes from the...
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What Happened at the FDA Psychedelic Hearing?
Dr. Jaster attended the FDA hearing on "Considerations for Potential Future Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs," and sat down only hours after to give you her unfiltered thoughts. The hearing took place on September 14, 2026 from 12:30 to 4:30ET. There were two sessions of public comments that...
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A New Chapter for Psychedelics? ft. Joshua Hardman
Psychedelic policy is moving faster than most people realize - and the next 12 months could decide which therapies reach patients first. On the Season 6 premiere of Psychedelic Brain Science, Dr. Alaina Jaster is joined by Josh Hardman, Founder of Psychedelic Alpha. Together they break down the...
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Polysubstance Use, Psychedelics & Social Withdrawal ft. Dr. Leah Salinsky
In this episode, Dr. J is joined by Dr. Leah Salinsky, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Washington. They discuss the role of serotonin in addiction, the importance of drug discrimination models, and the unique interactions between psychedelics and opioids. Leah shares insights from her...
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Justice & Integrity in Psychedelic Medicine ft. Victoria Cvitanovic
In this episode of Psychedelic Brain Science, Dr. J is joined by Victoria Cvitanovic, a lawyer at Rudick Law Group with a focus on psychedelic medicine, cannabis and healthcare. Throughout the episode they discuss the evolving landscape of drug policy with an emphasis on the importance of...
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Radical Hospitality and Psychedelic Spaces ft. Dimitri Mugianis
In this episode, Dr. J is joined by Dimitri Mugianis, who has previously been featured on This American Life, Psychedelics Today and stars in the documentary I’m Dangerous With Love, which chronicles his work and life.Through the podcast, they discuss the darker side of addiction, recovery…
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What's Cookin? From Kitchen to Cognition ft. Andrew Ferns
In this episode, Dr. Jaster is joined by Andrew Ferns, a PhD Candidate at University North Texas, to discuss his unique journey from a chef struggling with addiction to clandestine chemist to PhD researching the effects of psychedelics on cognitive decline. Andrew's current research focuses on…
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Community Focused Research for Addiction ft. Samantha Bumgardaner
This episode, Dr. Jaster is joined by Samantha Bumgardaner, MS, who is currently studying substance use disorders and psychedelics for her PhD at Saint Louis University.Her work employs mixed-method approaches to study the influence of state and trait factors on substance use and mental health...
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Entheogenic Decrim in Michigan ft. Rep. Mike McFall and Julie Barron
This special episode of Psychedelic Brain Science is a collaboration with Psychedelic State(s) of America. Here, Dr. Jaster is joined by Julie Barron of Michigan Psychedelic Society and MI State Rep. Mike McFall to discuss the evolving landscape of psychedelic advocacy in Michigan, recent...
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Naturalistic Psilocybin and Addictive Behaviors ft. Dr. Jérémie Richard
This episode Dr. Jaster is joined by Dr. Jérémie Richard, a psychologist and Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa. At the time of recording, Dr. Richard was a Banting Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of...
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The Fight for Psilocybin Rescheduling ft. Dr. Sunil Aggarwal and Shane Pennington
In this special episode, Alaina discusses the ongoing fight for the rescheduling of psilocybin with Dr. Sunil Aggarwal and attorney Shane Pennington. They delve into the complexities of the rescheduling process, the legal challenges faced, and the importance of public advocacy in shaping drug...
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Are the Kids Alright? Part 2: Cannabis Use in Adolescents ft. Brooke Sanders
Dr. Alaina Jaster is joined by Brooke Sanders, MS, a translational neuroscientist focused on understanding epigenetic impacts of synthetic cannabinoids on the human genome. She is also a Content Advisor for Students for Sensible Drug Policy. They discuss a variety of projects Sanders is involved…
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Causal Fridays: Bathtub Jeans and Gene Therapy
Welcome to the first Causal Friday! These short segments are all about chatting casually with friends, family or strangers and how the most random interests can intersect with science. They will air on a random Friday each month, so you have to subscribe to get the notification! The first guest…
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Are the Kids Alright? Psychedelic Use in Adolescents ft. Dr. David Sjöström
Dr. Alaina Jaster is joined by child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. David Sjöström who is at the University Hospital in Lund, Sweden. He is a current PhD candidate studying adolescent use of psychedelics and perceived effects on wellbeing. They discuss a variety of projects Sjöström is involved…
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Cross-Collaborative Exploration of Psilocybin's Effects ft. Odilia Lu, Dr. Robert Malenka & Dr. Boris Heifets
The final episode of Season 4 of Psychedelic Brain Science discusses a recent preprint that gets at the heart of reproducibility in science. Dr. Jaster is joined by Berkeley PhD candidate Odilia Lu, Stanford researcher and professor Dr. Robert Malenka, and anesthesiologist and Stanford researcher...
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Touch in Psychedelic Therapy ft. Kayla Greenstien
In this episode, Dr. Jaster is joined by Kayla Greenstien, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney researching touch in psychedelic therapy. They'll define different types of touch, theoretical frameworks behind focused bodywork and the ideas surrounding consent to touch in psychedelic…
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Science Under Threat! ft. Dr. Hilary Marusak & Dr. Christine Rabinak
In this special episode of Psychedelic Brain Science, Dr. Alaina Jaster is joined by Dr. Hilary Marusak, host of BrainSTEM and Principle Investigator in the THINK lab at Wayne State University. They are also joined by Dr. Christine Rabinak, a world-leading PTSD researcher, who brings a unique...
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Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus ft. Dr. Jason Luoma
On this weeks ISRP Speaker Spotlight Alaina is joined by psychologist and co-founder of the Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus (OPEN), Dr. Jason Luoma. They discuss evaluation of psychedelic assisted therapy in the real world following legalization in Portland, Oregon. Register for ISRP at...
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Ibogaine & Ocular Dominance Plasticity ft. Alejo Acuña
This weeks ISRP Speaker Spotlight is Alejo Acuña, a PhD student in Biology at the Neuroplasticity Unit of the Laboratorio de Neurociencias, University of the Republic, Uruguay. Alejo's project focuses on atypical psychedelic, Ibogaine, and how it can enhance ocular dominance plasticity in the…
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Psychedelic Therapy... in Rodents? ft. Kate Lawson
This episode is the first of three in our special ISRP Speaker Spotlight series. We've decided to showcase some amazing scientists that will be presenting at the virtual International Society for Psychedelic Research Conference March 7! It's not too late to register at:...
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What is a Psychedelic? ft. Dr. Boris Heifets
In this episode, Alaina discusses the evolving language about some of our favorite substances and how we got to the term psychedelic. In the first segment, she highlights some historical names for psychedelic substances in western medicine. In the second segment, she is joined by Stanford...
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Special Episode: Charting a Path Forward ft. Dr. Gill Bedi & Dr. Neşe Devenot
This special episode includes presentations from a recent workshop, where Dr. Alaina Jaster, Dr. Neşe Devenot of Johns Hopkins and Dr. Gill Bedi of University of Melbourne presented their expertise and perspectives on how the psychedelic research field can move forward from the recent FDA…
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Seeing Through the Smoke ft. Dr. Peter Grinspoon
Alaina is joined by physician, author, activist and educator Dr. Peter Grinspoon to discuss the use of psychedelics and cannabis in recovery, the stigma associated with drug use and the idea of "california sober." Have questions or want to read his book? Check out Dr. Grinspoon's website...
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Psychedelic Circuits: The Amygdala ft. Dr. Devin Effinger
This episode is the last of the Psychedelic Circuits mini-series! Today, Alaina gives a brief overview on circuits involved in stress responses. Then Dr. Devin Effinger deep dives into his work with the amygdala, paraventricular nucleus and how these regions send signals to relay important...
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Special Episode: Tales from the DEA Hearing ft. Jack Gorsline
Welcome to a super extra special episode of Psychedelic Brain Science! Dr. Jaster has finally settled back into real life after spending a week at DEA HQ fighting with Students for Sensible Drug Policy and many other scientists to keep DOI and DOC legal. She's joined today by psychedelic…
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Psychedelic Circuits: The Spinal Cord ft. Dr. Raul Ramos
This episode is the second installment of the mini-series focused on brain circuits outside of the typical frontal cortex conversation. Today, we hear from Alaina on the basics of pain and touch perception, as well as how our nerves send information to our brains. Alaina is then joined by Dr.…
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Psychedelic Circuits: The Claustrum ft. Tanner Anderson
This episode is the first of three in a mini-series focused on brain circuits outside of the typical conversations. Today, we hear from Alaina on the basics of how neurons talk to each other and a refresher on serotonin signaling. Alaina is then joined by special guest Tanner Anderson, a PhD...
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Sensible Drug Policy in the Psychedelic Era Part 2 ft. Dr. Elijah Ullman, Brett Phelps & Robert Rush
Welcome to season 4. In this two part episode, Alaina talks about the ongoing petition against the DEA's proposed rule to schedule DOI and DOC. In the first half of this episode, Alaina is joined by Elijah Z. Ullman, of the SSDP Science Policy Committee. They discuss the background and specific...
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Special Episode: The State of Psychoactive/Entheogenic Plants and Fungi
Join us for this special episode featuring discussion from the Richmond, VA annual Mushroom Mania festival presented by the RVA Moon Market. Alaina is joined by fellow panelists: Will E. Nelson, Co-founder of Decriminalize Nature RVA Isa Boliver, South American Medicine Woman Dr. Harrison Elder,...
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Season 4 Preview: Psychedelic Brain Science
Alaina and Zarmeen are BACK BABY! In this short episode, they wanted to give some updates on their lives, explain what the heck is going on with the podcast and preview a couple exciting upcoming episodes.
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See Ya Later Alligators
Alaina and Zarmeen announce their hiatus for YBOS while they finish up their PhDs! Time flies when you're running a podcast and being a scientist full time... That being said, listen to them briefly chat about what they've been up to, where you can find them in the next few months and a few…
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Literature Review: Psychedelics & Addiction
To bring this series full circle, Alaina does a quick summary of some of the current clinical and preclinical literature supporting using psychedelics for the treatment of various substance use disorders. Links to the studies references will be posted on our blog at psychedelicbrainscience.com/blog.
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Psychedelics to Treat Substance Use Disorders ft. Albert Garcia-Romeu
Alaina is joined by Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu, a clinical researcher and associate professor at Johns Hopkins. They discuss some historical considerations of psychedelics, patterns of use, and how these compounds can be useful in treating unhealthy patterns in folks with Substance Use Disorders.
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The Non-Addictive Nature of Psychedelics
Alaina gives a quick and dirty breakdown about all things drug use. She breaks down the different definitions of drug abuse and drug use, discusses how psychedelics are different from other drugs and then talks about the possible ways psychedelics may be helping people with substance use disorders.
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Journal Club: Comparing Altered States of Consciousness
This week A & Z do a journal club style episode where they briefly discuss the rationale, methods and results of a recent psychedelic paper. The paper titled "Comparing neural correlates of consciousness from psychedelics to hypnosis and meditation" by Moujaes et al. at the university of Zurich...
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Ambivalence in the Psychedelic Experience ft. Abigail Calder
Alaina is joined by fellow PhD candidate Abigail Calder to discuss her ongoing work on psychedelics including neuroplasticity and how we can measure that in humans, as well as the importance in understanding how subjective effects can be positive, negative, both or neither. Abigail is currently...
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Psychedelics & Sports: ft. Riley Cote
In this episode of YBOS, Zarmeen chats with former NHL player and now co-founder of Athletes for Care, Riley Cote. In their conversation Zarmeen and Riley talk about the unique challenges of being an NHL enforcer and what that meant for Riley during and after the sport. In their conversation…
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Psychedelics & Sports: Kickoff ft. Anna Symonds
Happy fourth everyone!! Join Zarmeen as she kicks of her psychedelics and sports series with former professional athlete and now director of the Etheridge foundation, Anna Symonds. This series explores the use of psychedelics in the lives of athletes. The utility of these drugs during an athletic...
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Are Psychedelics Anti-inflammatory? ft. Dr. Charles Nichols
Join Alaina and Dr. Charles Nichols, professor of pharmacology and researcher at Louisiana State University, as they discuss how psychedelics may be useful in treating inflammation. They dive into inflammatory processes, the interaction of serotonin and serotonergic agonists in these pathways and...
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The Mystical Mouse ft. Dr. Jennifer Wolstenholme and Dr. Peter Hamilton
This week's episode of Your Brain on Science, Alaina is going to try and get some answers to the question everyone is dying to know: If you give a mouse DMT, do they see mouse god? Alaina is joined by two VCU professors and preclinical researchs, Dr. Jennifer Wolstenholme and Dr. Peter Hamilton,...
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WTF is a head twitch? ft. Dr. Mario de la Fuente
Alaina is joined by colleague and friend, Dr. Mario de la Fuente Revenga to discuss the popular psychedelic preclinical experiment - head twitch response. Mario talks about the automation of the procedure, what head twitch really means, and if there are any similarities between this behavior in...
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Season 3: Science Blitz!
A & Z catch you up on all the things that have happened in the last few months! We also feature a new sound artist this season: Charlie Hausfeld. Welcome to season 3 of Psychedelic Brain Science! All content published by YBOS is solely the opinions of the authors and does not reflect the opinions...
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Special Episode: Revolutionary Drug Reform ft. Congressman Earl Blumenauer
Welcome to a special episode with A & Z, where they are joined by US Congressman Earl Blumenauer to discuss his fight against criminalization of addiction. They discuss the many things Blumenaur has accomplished in his career in regards to cannabis reform, as well as the ongoing fight to pass the...
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420: Is Cannabis a Psychedelic?
Happy 420! Join Alaina and Zarmeen for this special episode about cannabis, where they discuss how its different and similar from classical psychedelics both in pharmacology and subjective effects. The content of YBOS is the opinion of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or...
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Special Episode: Paradise or Inferno ft. Leonard Pickard
Happy Bicycle Day!!! To celebrate, A & Z have brought you a very special episode of Your Brain on Science. Join them both as they talk with Leonard Pickard about the current state of psychedelics, his fascinating past and his new book: The Rose of Parascelsus: On Secrets & Sacrements. All content...
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Your Brain on LSD
Alaina & Zarmeen do a crash course in LSD, discussing the pharmacology, subjective effects and history of the drug. All content published by YBOS is solely the opinions of the authors and does not reflect the opinions of any parties affiliated with the authors or any additional third parties.
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Journal Club: LSD Microdosing...at Home?
Join A & Z as they discuss a recent journal article focused on the safety and tolerability of LSD microdosing in a naturalistic setting. This research was funded by MindBio Therapeutics and is the peer-reviewed version of what we discussed on our previous microdosing episode. All content…
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Psychedelics and the Corporate World ft. Russell Hausfeld
In this episode, Zarmeen speaks with Russell Hausfeld of Psymposia about psychedelics and the corporate world. Their conversation dives into the current corporate landscape and the implications of corporatization into every aspect of psychedelic field growth. Check out our website for more on…
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Therapists Who Trip ft. Dr. Jacob S. Aday
Alaina is joined today by Dr. Jacob S. Aday, first author of a recent publication surveying psychedelic therapists about their use of psychedelics. This paper raised the question to many: Should therapists providing psychedelic-assisted therapy be required to have a psychedelic experience?…
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Psychedelic Theory: Self-Concept & Ego ft. Dr. Neşe Devenot
Alaina sits down with Dr. Neşe Devenot, a psychedelics and bioethics researcher to talk about their work with understanding different aspects of phenomenon associated with ego-dissolution and self-concept. Dr. Devenot & colleagues recent paper, analyzing outcomes and the research manual from the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Psychedelic Brain Science is a multimedia approach dedicated to bringing scientific, psychological, anthropological, and cultural information as it relates to psychedelics. Join scientists Alaina Jaster, PhD and Zarmeen Zahid, PhD as they work to provide better understanding of the ongoing research about psychedelics through their two segments: Your Brain on Science and Your Brain Beyond Science. Content only reflects opinions of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/psychedelicbrainscience/support
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Psychedelic Brain Science have?
Psychedelic Brain Science currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Psychedelic Brain Science about?
Psychedelic Brain Science is a multimedia approach dedicated to bringing scientific, psychological, anthropological, and cultural information as it relates to psychedelics. Join scientists Alaina Jaster, PhD and Zarmeen Zahid, PhD as they work to provide better understanding of the ongoing research...
How often does Psychedelic Brain Science release new episodes?
Psychedelic Brain Science has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Psychedelic Brain Science on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
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Psychedelic Brain Science is created and hosted by Psychedelic Brain Science.
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