UC Berkeley Announces Free Online Psychedelic Research Course

Last month, the university’s Center for the Science of Psychedelics launched a free online course called Psychedelics and the Mind. The start of the course represents a further expansion of the center that was launched three years ago.

According to The Daily Californian, the course “will be led by David Presti, a neurobiology professor and one of them [Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics] Founder.” It will be available free of charge thanks to the generous support of the Steve and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

Steve Cohen, the billionaire owner of the New York Mets, is a longtime advocate of psychedelic research and therapy. In June, the Foundation offered a $5 million grant to MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelics Studies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the potential of psychedelic drugs for medical purposes.

Imran Khan, executive director of the Center for the Science of Psychedelics, said the newly launched course was “an amazing thing” and called Presti “a legend at Berkeley.”

“When I tell people what I do for a living, the first thing they often say is that they told me how much they enjoyed learning personally from David many years ago. We have converted this course into a high-quality multimedia and interactive online version, available worldwide for free. It’s a university-level course on the history and science as we know it of psychedelics,” Khan said in an interview with the university.

According to Khan, the course could also be completely unique.

“As far as we are aware, there is no other course like Psychedelics and the Mind that is comprehensive, free and focused on psychedelic science. “It feels like something unique that Berkeley can offer,” Khan said. “We want it to be accessible to as many people as possible, so we plan to continue promoting it. But we also want it to be a basis so that we can then start further courses. For example, we are interested in explaining the medicinal side of psychedelics or the connection between psychedelics and specific communities – be it specific racial groups, veterans or people who come from specific professions who want to understand the nature and effects of psychedelics.”

“There is tremendous potential for us to continue to act as the link between what is happening in research and practice and the need and desire to know more in the future,” added Khan.

The University of California, Berkeley established the Center for the Science of Psychedelics in September 2020 thanks to $1.25 million in seed funding from an anonymous donor.

“There has never been a better time to start a center like this,” Presti said at the time. “The renewal of basic and clinical science with psychedelics has sparked the interest of many people.”

One of the co-founders of the center is the bestselling author Michael Pollan. Pollan’s 2018 book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence has been called “one of the inspirations for the center.”

“We’re really interested in what psychedelics can teach us about consciousness, cognition, creativity and learning,” Pollan said at the time.

“Psychedelics have special value later in life, when you’re most stuck in your patterns. They give you an opportunity to get rid of them,” he added.

In June, the center released a unique poll showing that a clear majority of Americans support the therapeutic approach to psychedelics.

“More than six in ten (61%) registered American voters support legalizing regulated therapeutic access to psychedelics, including 35% reporting ‘strong’ support,” the university wrote in a press release presenting the poll’s results explained in detail. “In addition, more than three-quarters of voters (78%) support facilitating research into psychedelic substances by researchers. Almost half (49%) support removing criminal sanctions for personal use and possessions.”

Khan said at the time that the poll “provided the first clear picture of what the American public thinks and feels about psychedelics.”

“The Berkeley Psychedelics Survey shows that the majority of American voters are interested in and supportive of this area. They want fewer research barriers for scientists and regulated, therapeutic access for the public,” Khan said. “With all the stigma and hype surrounding these powerful substances, it is critical that researchers, policymakers and practitioners understand and respond to the hopes and fears of the public. We look forward to announcing the full results of the Berkeley Psychedelics Survey in the coming weeks.”

In the interview with the university published late last month, Khan said the future of psychedelics in the US remains uncertain.

“We are about to begin a journey with psychedelics. These substances have been used in some contexts for decades, centuries and millennia and have only recently regained public, cultural and scientific interest. We are so close to beginning an investigation that I hope it will continue for many decades to come. “There are questions that we don’t even know enough to ask at this point,” Khan said.