Psychedelic Brain Science
Episodes
Polysubstance Use, Psychedelics & Social Withdrawal ft. Dr. Leah Salinsky
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ad...
Justice & Integrity in Psychedelic Medicine ft. Victoria Cvitanovic
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 medicin...
Radical Hospitality and Psychedelic Spaces ft. Dimitri Mugianis
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 docu...
What's Cookin? From Kitchen to Cognition ft. Andrew Ferns
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Community Focused Research for Addiction ft. Samantha Bumgardaner
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode, Dr. Jaster is joined by Samantha Bumgardaner, MS, who is currently studying substance use disorders and psychedelics for her PhD at Sain...
Entheogenic Decrim in Michigan ft. Rep. Mike McFall and Julie Barron
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode of Psychedelic Brain Science is a collaboration with Psychedelic State(s) of America. Here, Dr. Jaster is joined by Julie Barron ...
Naturalistic Psilocybin and Addictive Behaviors ft. Dr. Jérémie Richard
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode Dr. Jaster is joined by Dr. Jérémie Richard, a psychologist and Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa. At the time of recording, ...
The Fight for Psilocybin Rescheduling ft. Dr. Sunil Aggarwal and Shane Pennington
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, Alaina discusses the ongoing fight for the rescheduling of psilocybin with Dr. Sunil Aggarwal and attorney Shane Pennington. ...
Are the Kids Alright? Part 2: Cannabis Use in Adolescents ft. Brooke Sanders
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Alaina Jaster is joined by Brooke Sanders, MS, a translational neuroscientist focused on understanding epigenetic impacts of synthetic cannabinoid...
Causal Fridays: Bathtub Jeans and Gene Therapy
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the first Causal Friday! These short segments are all about chatting casually with friends, family or strangers and how the most random int...
Are the Kids Alright? Psychedelic Use in Adolescents ft. Dr. David Sjöström
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 curre...
Cross-Collaborative Exploration of Psilocybin's Effects ft. Odilia Lu, Dr. Robert Malenka & Dr. Boris Heifets
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The final episode of Season 4 of Psychedelic Brain Science discusses a recent preprint that gets at the heart of reproducibility in science. Dr. Jaste...
Touch in Psychedelic Therapy ft. Kayla Greenstien
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Jaster is joined by Kayla Greenstien, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney researching touch in psychedelic therapy. They&...
Science Under Threat! ft. Dr. Hilary Marusak & Dr. Christine Rabinak
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode of Psychedelic Brain Science, Dr. Alaina Jaster is joined by Dr. Hilary Marusak, host of BrainSTEM and Principle Investigator ...
Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus ft. Dr. Jason Luoma
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this weeks ISRP Speaker Spotlight Alaina is joined by psychologist and co-founder of the Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus (OPEN), Dr. Jason Luoma....
Ibogaine & Ocular Dominance Plasticity ft. Alejo Acuña
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weeks ISRP Speaker Spotlight is Alejo Acuña, a PhD student in Biology at the Neuroplasticity Unit of the Laboratorio de Neurociencias, Universit...
Psychedelic Therapy... in Rodents? ft. Kate Lawson
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 pr...
What is a Psychedelic? ft. Dr. Boris Heifets
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 seg...
Special Episode: Charting a Path Forward ft. Dr. Gill Bedi & Dr. Neşe Devenot
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode includes presentations from a recent workshop, where Dr. Alaina Jaster, Dr. Neşe Devenot of Johns Hopkins and Dr. Gill Bedi of U...
Seeing Through the Smoke ft. Dr. Peter Grinspoon
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina is joined by physician, author, activist and educator Dr. Peter Grinspoon to discuss the use of psychedelics and cannabis in recovery, the stig...
Psychedelic Circuits: The Amygdala ft. Dr. Devin Effinger
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the last of the Psychedelic Circuits mini-series! Today, Alaina gives a brief overview on circuits involved in stress responses. Then ...
Special Episode: Tales from the DEA Hearing ft. Jack Gorsline
24 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Psychedelic Circuits: The Spinal Cord ft. Dr. Raul Ramos
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the second installment of the mini-series focused on brain circuits outside of the typical frontal cortex conversation. Today, we hear...
Psychedelic Circuits: The Claustrum ft. Tanner Anderson
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Sensible Drug Policy in the Psychedelic Era Part 2 ft. Dr. Elijah Ullman, Brett Phelps & Robert Rush
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Special Episode: The State of Psychoactive/Entheogenic Plants and Fungi
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for this special episode featuring discussion from the Richmond, VA annual Mushroom Mania festival presented by the RVA Moon Market. Alaina i...
Season 4 Preview: Psychedelic Brain Science
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 p...
See Ya Later Alligators
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Literature Review: Psychedelics & Addiction
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To bring this series full circle, Alaina does a quick summary of some of the current clinical and preclinical literature supporting using psychedelics...
Psychedelics to Treat Substance Use Disorders ft. Albert Garcia-Romeu
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina is joined by Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu, a clinical researcher and associate professor at Johns Hopkins. They discuss some historical consideratio...
The Non-Addictive Nature of Psychedelics
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ho...
Journal Club: Comparing Altered States of Consciousness
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 p...
Ambivalence in the Psychedelic Experience ft. Abigail Calder
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina is joined by fellow PhD candidate Abigail Calder to discuss her ongoing work on psychedelics including neuroplasticity and how we can measure t...
Psychedelics & Sports: ft. Riley Cote
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 R...
Psychedelics & Sports: Kickoff ft. Anna Symonds
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Happy fourth everyone!! Join Zarmeen as she kicks of her psychedelics and sports series with former professional athlete and now director of the Ether...
Are Psychedelics Anti-inflammatory? ft. Dr. Charles Nichols
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join Alaina and Dr. Charles Nichols, professor of pharmacology and researcher at Louisiana State University, as they discuss how psychedelics may be u...
The Mystical Mouse ft. Dr. Jennifer Wolstenholme and Dr. Peter Hamilton
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 mou...
WTF is a head twitch? ft. Dr. Mario de la Fuente
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina is joined by colleague and friend, Dr. Mario de la Fuente Revenga to discuss the popular psychedelic preclinical experiment - head twitch respo...
Season 3: Science Blitz!
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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. ...
Special Episode: Revolutionary Drug Reform ft. Congressman Earl Blumenauer
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a special episode with A & Z, where they are joined by US Congressman Earl Blumenauer to discuss his fight against criminalization of a...
420: Is Cannabis a Psychedelic?
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Happy 420! Join Alaina and Zarmeen for this special episode about cannabis, where they discuss how its different and similar from classical psychedeli...
Special Episode: Paradise or Inferno ft. Leonard Pickard
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Leonar...
Your Brain on LSD
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina & Zarmeen do a crash course in LSD, discussing the pharmacology, subjective effects and history of the drug. All content published by YBOS...
Journal Club: LSD Microdosing...at Home?
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join A & Z as they discuss a recent journal article focused on the safety and tolerability of LSD microdosing in a naturalistic setting. This rese...
Psychedelics and the Corporate World ft. Russell Hausfeld
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Zarmeen speaks with Russell Hausfeld of Psymposia about psychedelics and the corporate world. Their conversation dives into the curre...
Therapists Who Trip ft. Dr. Jacob S. Aday
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina is joined today by Dr. Jacob S. Aday, first author of a recent publication surveying psychedelic therapists about their use of psychedelics. Th...
Psychedelic Theory: Self-Concept & Ego ft. Dr. Neşe Devenot
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina sits down with Dr. Neşe Devenot, a psychedelics and bioethics researcher to talk about their work with understanding different aspects of phen...
The Brain: A Prediction Machine
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 Theory: Common Factors Of Psychotherapy ft. Dr. Natalie Gukasyan
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week Alaina is joined by Dr. Natalie Gukasyan, a psychiatrist and clinical researcher at Johns Hopkins University. They discuss the common factor...
Journal Club: Vargas et al - Intracellular 5-HT2ARs?
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join Zarmeen and Alaina this week as they discuss a recent research article challenging the currently accepted mechanism of psychedelic action. This p...
Psychedelic Theory: Attention & Experience ft. Jason Day
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of YBOS, Zarmeen speaks with PhD candidate Jason Day about his thesis work which looks to understand the phenomenology of the psychede...
Psychedelic Harm Reduction
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Patents, Regulations and REMS...Oh my! ft. Graham Pechenik
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 psyc...
Sensible Drug Policy in the Psychedelic Era ft. Dr. Elijah Ullman & Dr. Lindsey Galbo-Thomma
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Journal Club: Rotz et al 2023
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
Season 2: Big Facts & Fun Reacts
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to the official second season of Psychedelic Brain Science with Zarmeen and Alaina! This episode we're answering some listener questi...
Microdosing: Magic or Myth?
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Plasticity & Psychoplastogens ft. Dr. Lindsay Cameron
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 abou...
What is Neuronal Plasticity?
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this weeks episode Zarmeen kicks off the plasticity mini series with a dive into functional plasticity and current literature in the field. She tal...
DMN: The Good, Bad, and Trippy ft. Haley Dourron
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this weeks episode Zarmeen talks to you about the Default Mode Network and its utility in theories of psychedelic action. This episode features spe...
Journal Club: COMPASS Psilocybin Phase 2 Results
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Chemistry Corner: Phenethylamines ft. Dr. Harrison Elder
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week Alaina and Harrison continue their discussion about structure, function and some of the ways we figure out the pharmacological profiles of p...
Chemistry Corner: Tryptamines versus Ergolines ft. Dr. Harrison Elder
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 functio...
Journal Club: Designing Psychedelics Without the Trip
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join Alaina and Zarmeen as they discuss the paper titled "Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity" by Kaplan...
HTCYM...Or Not?
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alaina and Zarmeen finally share their thoughts on the How to Change Your Mind Docuseries. The content of YBOS is the opinion of the authors and does ...
Hype or Hope? Part 2
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Your Brain on Science, Zarmeen talks about the Hope in psychedelic research! She goes through some landmark clinical studies in psy...
Hype or Hope? Part 1
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of Your Brain on Science, Alaina breaks down the sensationalist hype in the psychedelic science field. She talks about what these drugs a...
The A to Z's of Understanding Scientific Research Articles
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 scien...
Introduction to Your Brain on Science
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...