Podcast on Psychedelics

Podcast on psychedelics: the science, research, and medical implications with Dr. Fred Barrett.

Dr. Frederick Barrett is a cognitive neuroscientist with training in behavioral pharmacology. He has been conducting psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins University since 2013. He has explored the effects of psilocybin on the brain, the effects of LSD on the brain’s response to music, and is currently leading a number of ongoing studies aimed at better understanding the psychological, biological, and neural mechanisms underlying the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic drugs.

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Psychedelics: Highs and Lows

There needs to be a bigger conversation on this:

Psychedelics are rapidly achieving the status of breakthrough therapies based on their potential for human development (Nutt, Erritzoe, & Carhart-Harris, 2020; Schenberg, 2018). At the same time, psychedelics may facilitate experiences of distressing or troubling revelations with unexpected or negative consequences to mental health.

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Making MDMA Legal

Amy Emerson is the Chief Executive Officer at the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC), a fully owned subsidiary of the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Working for almost two decades to make MDMA a legal, FDA-approved medicine, Amy began as a pro bono consultant for MAPS in 2003, helping to create MAPS’ clinical department and managing the MDMA Clinical Development Program.

Her painstaking time and efforts have played a key role in seeing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through clinical trials, driving it ever-closer to being a legal, accessible therapeutic treatment in the US and abroad.

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MDMA Therapy Revolution

MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D., sits down with Aubrey Marcus to explain MAPS' multiple research, policy, and education priorities in the context of our larger, long-term goal of mass mental health.

"I hope in the big picture, by 2050, we'll have enough people with an understanding of how to use psychedelics for personal, emotional, and spiritual growth that we'll have a more spiritualized humanity to turn us more towards saving the planet from mass weapons, climate change, and prejudice," explains Doblin.

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BBC Future profile on Psychedelics

BBC Future profiles MAPS Founder Rick Doblin, Ph.D., in an extensive article exploring the international impact of psychedelics on science, drug policy, culture, and medicine.

By highlighting the rapid increase in psychedelic research over the past ten years, Ed Prideaux of BBC explains how clinical trial results, favorable media coverage, and the potential development of new mental health treatments are steadily moving the public perception of psychedelics toward mainstream acceptance.

"Now the efforts of Doblin and others are finally paying off,” writes Prideaux. "Promising clinical trials suggest that psychedelics may prove game-changing treatments for depression, PTSD and addiction."

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