UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Pscyhedelics

New UC Berkeley Brain Imaging Study Examines Psilocybin's Role in Healthy Aging The potential of psilocybin for quelling angst in the dying has been demonstrated in multiple studies over the past decades.

ELDEREVOLUTION visited the BCSP lab to talk to Faculty Director Michael Silver and neuroscience PhD candidate Tyler Toueg about their current study. https://abbierosner.substack.com/p/new-uc-berkeley-brain-imaging-study

The Cutting Edges of Psychedelics Research: Potentials and Pitfalls  - Bioneers Conference Psychedelic substances, long used by a number of Indigenous cultures, have been on a strange, jagged trip for nearly a century in the Western world, from experimentation by a few anthropologists and s...

We're co-hosting a panel at @bioneers.org on March 26! BCSP Faculty Director Michael Silver and Senior Science Advisor Gül Dölen will be talking about potentials and pitfalls of psychedelic research. https://conference.bioneers.org/the-cutting-edges-of-psychedelics-research-potentials-and-pitfalls/

Please note: The BCSP does not advocate for any specific policy positions or ballot measures.

Law and Policy Map - UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics Your guide to the shifting legal landscape of psychedelics.

As scientific research on psychedelics grows, so does legal and political support. This interactive law and policy map offers a guide to the shifting legal landscape. Check out the most recent updates from this month: https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/law-and-policy-map/

Season 2, Episode 3: Was it DMT? Or was it heaven? - UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics An investigation into near-death experiences

Congrats @haleemakshah.bsky.social for being nominated for the South Asian Excellence in Sound and Audio Storytelling Award at the NYC Podcast Awards! Your reporting for our Altered States podcast was 💯 cc: @prx.org https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/season-2-episode-3-was-it-dmt-or-was-it-heaven/

Nominees — SILVER - Podcast & Video Production

Our podcast, Altered States, has been nominated for 4 awards at @silver-nyc.com: Best Science Podcast, Best Editing, Black Excellence in Sound and Audio Storytelling and South Asian Excellence in Sound and Audio Storytelling. 🙌🏾 🎉 cc: @prx.org https://www.silver-nyc.com/nycpodcastawards/nominees

Cover image of a book titled "A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness" by Michael McCrea. The text "Minds Before Brains" is visible with a mention of "The Microdose" and "themicrodose.substack.com." The background features a vertical design with partial blue panels.

In this week’s Microdose newsletter, BCSP co-founder @michaelpollan.bsky.social shares an excerpt from his new book, A World Appears, which was published last week. Read the full excerpt and subscribe to the Microdose at themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

The image features text about the FDA changing the drug approval process, mentioning a Senate hearing and Surgeon General nominee Casey Means discussing psychedelics use. Additional text includes a RAND survey on U.S. adults supporting psilocybin mushrooms, and Reunion Neuroscience's FDA breakthrough status. The bottom displays “The Microdose” followed by a URL.

FDA drug approval changes, RAND survey results, and more in this week's news roundup from The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter from the BCSP. Subscribe today! http://themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

We're looking to hire a UC Berkeley student as a summer social media intern! Learn how to utilize your video and multimedia content making skills in a professional work environment. Apply at: https://app.joinhandshake.com/public/jobs/10743795 (must have a Handshake account and be logged in to view)

This is a black and white portrait of Nikolas fRancis wearing glasses, smiling. The image is from an article titled "What should you listen to while tripping?: 5 Questions with auditory neuroscientist Nikolas Francis" on The Microdose.

The Microdose spoke with Nikolas Francis, an auditory neuroscientist whose study with mice is helping to explain humans’ experience with music while on psychedelics. Subscribe to The Microdose and read the full Q&A here: http://themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

Stylized poster with the message "Subscribe to the BCSP Newsletter." Features three colorful icons: an eye, an envelope, and a mushroom with a ladybug. Includes a URL: https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/subscribe/.

Are you subscribed to the BCSP newsletter? Get the latest psychedelic research, education, news, and views from the team at UC Berkeley delivered directly to your inbox. https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/subscribe/

Text on a dark background reads: "Compass announces promising yet modest results from second Phase 3 psilocybin trial; Missouri hearings on ibogaine and psilocybin bills, New Hampshire psilocybin bill advances. Plus: Helus's DMT formulation shows promise in treating depression and Compass laying groundwork for COMP360 trigger law in Vermont." In the bottom right, it says "The Microdose themicrodose.substack.com".

New psilocybin trial results, state bill updates, and more in this week's news roundup from The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter from the BCSP. Subscribe today! themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome Marlena Robbins, MS, DrPHc, Program Coordinator of the Collective Continuance Fellowship! Her leadership centers Indigenous methodologies & data sovereignty in research involving psychedelics, supporting ethical and community-responsive scholarship. psychedelics.berkeley.edu/collective-c...

Popping the Science Bubble @Central A UC Berkeley lecture series. Event starts at February 17, 2026 5:30 PM PST

TONIGHT: The @berkeleypubliclibrary.org hosts neuroscience grad student, Makenzie Wilkinson, to talk about how psychedelic drugs reopen critical periods of development. https://berkeleypubliclibrary.libnet.info/event/15732948

A woman with glasses and long hair looks over her shoulder at the camera, with a beautiful landscape in the background.

Our Director of Strategy, Kuranda Morgan, started as a Civic Science Fellow, supported by the
@danafoundation.bsky.social, working to make psychedelic research accessible.
https://civicsciencefellows.org/stories/creating-room-for-both-scientists-and-communities-to-learn-about-psychedelics/

State and federal legislative updates plus more in The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter out of the BCSP.'s journalism pillar Subscribe today! themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

The Microdose spoke with anesthesiologist Harrison Shong-Wen Chow about how dreams during surgery have relieved trauma symptoms. Subscribe to The Microdose and read the full Q&A here: themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

A collage of psychedelic-themed movie scenes. Upper section features an abstract pattern and a person with clasped hands. The middle shows a person lit from below and another in a reflective helmet from "2001: A Space Odyssey." The bottom has a person in vibrant attire and another abstract pattern. The text reads "Psychedelia & Cinema" and "Tickets on sale now."

Hey Bay Area! Tickets are on sale now for Psychedelia & Cinema, our film series in partnership with @bampfa.bsky.social. Screenings fill quickly, get your tickets today! https://bampfa.org/program/psychedelia-cinema

The Microdose talked to Henrik Jungaberle, a medical psychologist and the founder and CEO of the MIND Foundation. Subscribe to The Microdose and read the full Q&A here: themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

Bay Made Each week, Bay Made partners with one Bay Area podcast or producer and shares four episodes of their work over the course of the week. Past partners include California Sun, Civic from the San Francisc...

Thanks @kalwradio.bsky.social and Bay Made for featuring our podcast, Altered States this week! Altered States is made in partnership with @prx.org and explores the stories and debates about psychedelics with smart and thorough reporting. www.kalw.org/show/bay-made

Do you read The Microdose? It's an independent newsletter out of the BCSP's journalism pillar with great reporting, including a weekly roundup of news from the field. Read or subscribe at themicrodose.substack.com

Inside the world’s largest psychedelic mushroom church : Planet Money Book tour dates and ticket info here.Just as every market has its first movers, every religion has its martyrs — the people willing to risk everything for what they believe. Pastor Dave Hodges just mi...

For NPR’s @planetmoney.bsky.social , 2025 Ferriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellow Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi took a deep dive into Zide Door, the world’s largest psychedelic mushroom church. Listen here: www.npr.org/2026/01/23/n...

The text "The Untold Story of Women Psychedelic Therapists: 5 Questions with historian Zoe Dubus. Dubus discusses how three women changed how LSD was given to patients.” is overlaid over a black and white portrait of Zoe Dubus. themicrodose.substack.com is written on the bottom.

The Microdose talked to Zoe Dubus, a historian who is trying to spotlight the legacies of three women psychedelic practitioners. Subscribe to The Microdose and read the full Q&A here: themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

Do you read The Microdose? It's an independent newsletter out of the BCSP's journalism pillar with great reporting, including a weekly roundup of news from the field. Read or subscribe at https://themicrodose.substack.com/

🎥 Congrats to our 2nd cohort of Mycoskie–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Documentary Fellows!

✨ Prod & Post: Alexandra Roca, Otilia Padua, Will Wertz
✨ R&D: Ewan Waddell, Jia Li, Julia Ngeow
✨ Student: Claire Crawford (UCLA)

🔗 tinyurl.com/mycoskie2026

Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Social Media Fellow Q&As: Solei Sarmiento - UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics Q&A with Solei Sarmiento, a Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Social Media Fellow.

Sarmiento is a masters student studying integrative spiritual care at Harvard Divinity School. Her platform, sunflower.sutras, was launched with the support of the Mycoskie–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Social Media Fellowship. Read her full Q&A with the BCSP. psychedelics.berkeley.edu/mycoskie-uc-...

Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Social Media Fellow Q&As: Charlotte James - UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics Q&A with Charlotte James, a Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Social Media Fellow.

Charlotte James is a healer and ceremonial facilitator. She's also the founder of New Old Ways, a multidimensional learning space that was launched with the support of the Mycoskie–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Social Media Fellowship. Read her Q&A with the BCSP. psychedelics.berkeley.edu/mycoskie-uc-...

How A Plant’s Survival Strategy Lands Patients in Emergency Wards Our Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellow, Saugat Bolakhe, shares what drove him to report about "mad honey".

In this week's edition of our newsletter, our @scipsychedelics.bsky.social Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellow @scigat.bsky.social shares what drove him to cover Joe Rogan's obsession with his home country's mad honey.

Read and subscribe here: buttondown.com/thexylom/arc...

Here are some of the headlines you might of missed in last week's roundup from The Microdose, a free newsletter from the BCSP✨Not yet a subscriber? Sign up today themicrodose.substack.com/subscribe

Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Social Media Fellow Q&As: Xochitl Bernadette Moreno - UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics Q&A with Xochitl Bernadette Moreno, a Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Social Media Fellow.

Xochitl Bernadette Moreno is a Xicana filmmaker, ceremonialist and media maker. Her project, Ancestral Medicine: Healing the Streets, launched as a result of the Mycoskie–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Social Media Fellowship. Read her Q&A with the BCSP. psychedelics.berkeley.edu/mycoskie-uc-...