Jen Holmberg is a Neuroscience PhD student conducting psilocybin research at UC Berkeley with the Center for the Science of Psychedelics (co-advised by Professors Jack Gallant and Michael Silver). Jen’s research is focused on understanding the brain mechanisms that mediate the psychedelic experience. Specifically, Jen uses fMRI, naturalistic stimuli, and computational models to investigate how psilocybin affects visual information processing in the brain during the acute drug experience.
In recent years, psychedelics have made a significant resurgence in public discourse, primarily due to their potential for treating mental health disorders. Despite this renewed wave of interest, psychedelic research is still in its early stages, largely due to a long-standing prohibition initiated by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. As a result of this regulation, psychedelic research was stunted for decades, and many basic science questions remain unanswered.
Jen is particularly interested in how current enthusiasm surrounding psychedelics interacts with the experimental questions researchers pursue, the communication of scientific findings, and the subsequent downstream effects on culture and public health policies and outcomes. As a Kavli Ethics, Science, and the Public Graduate Fellow, Jen aims to explore the ethical considerations that arise at the interface between psychedelic science and society.
