Our research goals center on mapping diverse human brain imaging data onto acute and lasting aspects of the psychedelic experience. We apply positron emission tomography to measure neurotransmission markers (e.g., serotonin 2A receptor levels with [11C] Cimbi-36 PET) that we can use to 1) determine basic pharmacokinetic properties (e.g., drug-receptor affinity and dose-occupancy relations) and 2) relate to features of the acute subjective experience or lasting change in behavioral or clinical phenotypes.
We apply functional brain imaging (e.g., BOLD fMRI) to derive task- and resting-state brain function and connectivity measures, including dynamic fluctuations in spatially distributed functional networks, that we similarly examine in relation to 1) biological and psychological measures, e.g., available drug concentration, 2) acute subjective experience measures, 3) lasting change behavioral and clinical phenotypes. We also pursue research avenues that integrate complementary brain imaging modalities to build a more comprehensive neurobiological model of acute and lasting psychedelic effects on the brain.