Your Brain on Science: Recent Episodes
Your Brain on Science
Your Brain on Science is a place curated by scientists for everyone. It’s no secret there is a large gap in understanding scientific research, sometimes it seems like scientific articles are written in another language. But it shouldn’t be this way, the scientific community should be dedicated to making findings more accessible and easier to understand for people who aren’t specialists. Join scientists and PhD students Alaina Jaster and Zarmeen Zahid as they work to provide better understanding of psychedelic research through charismatic co-host led discussions and special guests!
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 rejection of MDMA-AT.
Dr. Jaster's presentation sets the tone by going over recent events, followed by how researchers can be involved in promoting evidence-based regulatory and policy decisions.
Dr. Devenot's presentation focused on what it means to be a psychedelic bioethicist and how the recent events have conflated constructive criticism with attacks, followed by a call to be better about having these discussions.
Dr. Bedi's presentation discussed how scientists studying MDMA and other psychedelics can better their study design and use methodology that is evidence-based and thorough.
These taken together, provided the framework for how to move forward in the field and prompted a discussion by members in the crowd (of which was not recorded to protect those participating).
For more information and to see some of the slides, you can go to psychedeliccbrainscience.com
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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 anesthesiologist and psychedelic researcher Dr. Boris Heifets to discuss how the scientific field classifies compounds as psychedelic and how to make sense of the psychedelic experience.
For more on Dr. Heifets research:
https://heifetslab.stanford.edu/publications/
For more on the history and references discussed in the introduction:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14761703/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584606000364
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.108.8.572
https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/article/16/10/2165/652314?login=true
https://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/
https://content.ucpress.edu/title/9780520285422/9780520285422_chapter1.pdf
Content only reflects opinions of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations.
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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 reasons why DOI and DOC should not be scheduled. In the second half of the podcast, Alaina is joined by Brett Phelps and Robert Rush, the legal counsel representing two of the three parties involved in the DEA case.
For more information on SSDP visit: https://ssdp.org/
For more information on our lawyers:
https://rrushlaw.com/about/
https://brettphelpslaw.com/
Suggested reading on the topic:
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/deas-move-to-ban-two-psychedelics-is-challenged-as-a-disservice-to-science-in-legal-filing-from-student-group/
https://filtermag.org/block-dea-psychedelics-ban/
https://www.aspet.org/docs/default-source/advocacy-files/aspet-dea-doi-and-doc-comments-1-12-2024.pdf?sfvrsn=62e172d3_0
https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3530
Content only reflects opinions of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations.
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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, postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins researching cannabis and psychedelics
Alistaire McKemy MSW, licensed clinical social worker focused on complex and/or developmental trauma and harm reductionEric Postow Esq. Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Holon Law Partners
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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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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 papers that recently came out (because even if they're busy, they still have to talk science DUH).
Check out the pubs referenced below:
STAR*D trial re-analysis: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/7/e063095
Zarmeen's Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37588757/
Psychedelic Commercialization: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/psymed.2023.0013
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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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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 https://www.petergrinspoon.com/
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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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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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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 explores the differences and similarities between pharmacological and non-pharmacological induced altered states of consciousness. Join A & Z as they deep dive into this very interesting publication.
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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 studying all of this and more at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. To learn more about her ongoing study or to participate, please see the link below.
https://redcapmed.unifr.ch/surveys/?s=DKRTNATWMDHDCCWA
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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, Riley details the healing he sought after his career and the role that psychedelics played in all of it.
Stay tuned in this series as there are more interesting stories to come! and check out our youtube for video content of this episode!
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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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 career, and beyond. This is the first episode in an ongoing series! Be sure to check out all of our episodes and head over to our youtube for video content.
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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 how psychedelics could be used as a potential treatment for inflammation-related pathology.
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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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, who will assist in breaking down the term anthropomorphism and what that means for preclinical research, as well as tackling whether or not rodents experience emotions and hallucinations. Tune in for this fun episode!
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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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 mice and some human behaviors when taking psychedelics.
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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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 Your Brain on Science!
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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 Right to Try Act in Oregon. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/your-brain-on-science/support
For the last episode of season 2, Alaina & Zarmeen are joined by journalist Sasha Sisko to discuss their public call for the resignation of Rick Doblin from The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. Please note that part of our discussion is on suicidal ideation and sexual assault and takes place at 39 to. 50 minutes. Tune into Sisko's livestream podcast with full commentary and perspective will take place on Sunday (4/30) at 7 pm EST/4 pm PST.
Rick Doblin's next speaking event is at Mind Medicine Australia is on Tuesday the 25th at 11 pm EST/8 pm PST. https://mindmedicineaustralia.org.au/events/mma-free-webinar-series-issues-involved-in-drug-development-with-mdma-assisted-therapy-for-ptsd-with-dr-rick-doblin-usa/
*When discussing Cover Story, Sisko misstated that that Mel was in the MAPS Phase 2 trial and that Leah was in Phase 3, but in reality, both were in Phase 3.
*We use the term Executive Director due to the time of recording, but recently Doblin's title has been changed to President.
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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 author affiliations.
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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 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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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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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 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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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 this episode! psychedelicbrainscience.com
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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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? Whatever your answer may be, this episode dives into the paper and the pros and cons of having experience with psychedelics as a mental health provider. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/your-brain-on-science/support
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 Johns Hopkins smoking cessation study, identifies some common themes of self-concept or identity shift. They also discuss the intersections between hypnosis, psychedelic-therapy and morality.
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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In this weeks episode Zarmeen tackles predictive coding! She chats about what this neuroscientific framework is and how it relates to evidence in the psychedelic field.
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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This week Alaina is joined by Dr. Natalie Gukasyan, a psychiatrist and clinical researcher at Johns Hopkins University. They discuss the common factors of psychotherapy and how they are affected in the psychedelic-assisted therapy models. From the "myth" or rationale of the treatment to the ritual of the practice, they cover all things related to the double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Dr. Gukasyan also discusses the risks and benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy and provides insight on the true placebo in these studies.
CW: suicide and self-injury at 26 minutes
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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Join Zarmeen and Alaina this week as they discuss a recent research article challenging the currently accepted mechanism of psychedelic action. This paper titled "Psychedelics promote neuroplasticity through the activation of intracellular 5-HT2A receptors" by Vargas and colleagues uses several techniques in neuroscience and chemistry to understand just how psychedelic tryptamines, but not serotonin itself, is causing plasticity changes in the frontal cortex. The gals will walk listeners through the paper and talk about some positive aspects and some critiques.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.--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/your-brain-on-science/support
In this episode of YBOS, Zarmeen speaks with PhD candidate Jason Day about his thesis work which looks to understand the phenomenology of the psychedelic experience. Jason theorizes a change in attention as a crucial aspect of the psychedelic experience. In this episode he explains his theory and also introduces a more controversial take on attention! Listen for more and be sure to check out the adjoining blog post.
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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In this episode of YBOS, Alaina and Zarmeen talk about harm reduction! From the origins of these programs, to different forms of harm reduction across the board, to considerations for psychedelic assisted therapy… they’ve covered it all! Do you have any tips, tricks or favorite harm reduction groups? Let us know in the comments! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/your-brain-on-science/support
This week on YBOS, Alaina is joined by cannabis and psychedelic patent lawyer, Graham Pechenik. Here they'll discuss the big news in the world of psychedelics, clear up some misunderstood notions of patent law, and discuss how the psychedelic industry can potentially influence policy and what it all means moving forward to legalization (whatever that means) of psychedelics.
The content of YBOS is the opinion of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations.
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This week on Your Brain on Science, Alaina is joined by two fellow pharmacologist and activists, Lindsey Galbo-Thomma and Elijah Ullman. Join them as they talk about general concerns and ongoing discussions with the space of drug policy including decriminalization, harm reduction and more.
The content of YBOS is the opinion of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations.
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Join Zarmeen and Alaina as they discuss the first paper for Journal Club 2023! This is one of the first 2023 clinical trial publications and focuses on a different kind of placebo, for the randomized placebo-controlled trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for Major Depression Disorder. This study is super cool and has a lot of results that will (we think) propel the field forward. Check out our blog post with a link to the paper and let us know what you think!
The content of YBOS is the opinion of the authors and does not reflect the opinion of others or author affiliations.
Welcome back to the official second season of Your Brain on Science with Zarmeen and Alaina! This episode we're answering some listener questions and talking about some of the latest and greatest psychedelic news. We can't wait to bring you more content and get into some interesting topics this season! Stay tuned and reach out to us via email (yourbrain.science@gmail.com) or via our website psychedelicbrainscience.com.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.
Join Alaina and Zarmeen in the final episode of Season 1!! They are jumping right into all things microdosing. They'll get into methodology, clinical data, preclinical data and considerations for the field moving forward. Get ready for some strong opinions by self-identified "Microdosing Skeptic" Alaina. Catch the gals on the airwaves again in January for Season 2!
Alaina is joined this week by Dr. Lindsay Cameron, a PhD graduate from University San Diego and current post-doc at Stanford. This episode is all about that funny word, psychoplastogens, and how creating new compounds is kind of like taking a part a puzzle and using the pieces to make something new. Dr. Cameron talks about her work as a PhD student and the future directions of the field of psychedelics.
In this weeks episode Zarmeen kicks off the plasticity mini series with a dive into functional plasticity and current literature in the field. She talks about what exactly plasticity is (we know its been a psychedelic buzzword!) and how it intersects with psychiatric disorders. She also talks about different experimental measures of plasticity and of course, what we know of psychedelics and functional plasticity!
In this weeks episode Zarmeen talks to you about the Default Mode Network and its utility in theories of psychedelic action. This episode features special guest Haley Dourron a PhD student in psychology who talks about her Self Entropic Broadening theory which attempts to identify a mechanism for ego dissolution and separate the action of psychedelics from the historical belief that they are only useful as psychotomimetics.
Join Alaina and Zarmeen this week as they celebrate Zarmeen's birthday by diving into the recently published report of a phase 2 clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment resistant depression. They go over some background, methodology and results surrounding the study and what it means moving forward. Of course, they also give their interpretations and discuss thoughts about sensationalism, limitations and the things they liked about the study. TW: suicidal ideation and self-injury.
This week Alaina and Harrison continue their discussion about structure, function and some of the ways we figure out the pharmacological profiles of psychedelic drugs. As Harrison puts it, these drugs are beautiful in their structural simplicity but have some of those most interesting subjective effects. Join the duo and dive into why these drugs are different from tryptamines and why they act kind of like amphetamines on this week of Your Brain on Science.
Join Alaina as she jumps into her favorite topic - how drugs work! She's going to discuss the basics of biology and how the structural and functional characteristics of compounds can determine how psychedelics work. Harrison Elder, a PhD student and behavioral pharmacologist at Virginia Commonwealth University joins Alaina to talk about the difference between tryptamines and ergolines, and how we can measure the function of these different psychedelics. Thanks for listening and as always, subscribe and let us know what you think!
Join Alaina and Zarmeen as they discuss the paper titled "Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity" by Kaplan et al., 2022. A very topical paper in which researchers identified new drugs based on structural similarities to LSD that are selective at the 5-HT2A receptor. These compounds show promising antidepressant activity in mice, but seem to have no hallucinogenic activity. They discuss the methods, key findings, and takeaways of this incredible paper!
Alaina and Zarmeen finally share their thoughts on the How to Change Your Mind Docuseries.
In this episode of Your Brain on Science, Zarmeen talks about the Hope in psychedelic research! She goes through some landmark clinical studies in psychedelic science, including those investigating the potential therapeutic effect of psychedelics to treat depression and substance use disorders. She also briefly talks about some important concepts like neuroplasticity and entropy, which will be covered in more detail later. Let us know what you're feeling hopeful for as psychedelic science continues to move forward. As always, like our content, subscribe and share with your friends!
This episode of Your Brain on Science, Alaina breaks down the sensationalist hype in the psychedelic science field. She talks about what these drugs are, how to understand the potential caveats to their therapeutic effects and safe practices when getting into psychedelics (take a shot or eat a m&m for every time she says caveat). Alaina will also discuss the Panacea in the room... why does it seem like psychedelics work for everything?! Check out the website for a reading list regarding today's content and some questions to consider. As always, thanks for listening and please subscribe and share!!
Have you ever read an article and been extremely confused by all the jargon? Have you ever questioned how the media was portraying findings from scientific articles? Have you ever wondered what exactly is going on? Welcome to Your Brain On Science Episode 2! This week, Alaina and Zarmeen (A to Z get it?) dive into the daunting world of understanding research articles in an attempt to breakdown the tough stuff into skimming, reading and interpreting. Check out our blog on psychedelicbrainscience.com for an example of how we work through research articles.
Hey everyone!! This is the first ever episode of YBOS and we really hope to introduce you all to what this is going to be about. We both really wanted to be able to share our knowledge and expertise in our fields within psychedelic science and help educate the public on some of the topics we've struggled with. We are both PhD students who are passionate about science, communication and giving people a platform and voice to share their knowledge. We hope you follow along with us on this journey and check out our website, psychedelicbrainscience.com and interact with us!