With rising interest in psychedelic drugs in recent years, researchers in the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR) are always looking for ways to inform the public and dispel misconceptions.

The team recently launched an online class, “Psychedelic Science and Medicine,” on Coursera.

“We want to make sure that we’re getting the research out to the public in a more direct way, and we thought that Coursera would be a good opportunity to do that,” says David Yaden, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We get a lot of people who are interested in learning more about psychedelics, who want to go beyond the popular reporting, but maybe don’t have the background to read academic papers.”

The CPCR, one of the world’s leading research centers on psychedelic drugs, was a force in restarting this research in the early 2000s.

“We are the most comprehensive and productive psychedelic research center in the world,” says Frederick Barrett, director of the CPCR, “and as such, our faculty are uniquely qualified to provide broad, evidence-based and objective education on the science behind psychedelics and their potential therapeutic applications.”

The center’s studies found that psilocybin — the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms — can produce experiences that result in substantial and sustained personal meaning, help treat depression, and have therapeutic effects in people who suffer from substance use disorder (smoking, alcohol, and misuse of other drugs) and existential distress caused by life-threatening disease.

Taught by Yaden, Barrett and two other faculty members of the CPCR, which is a division within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Coursera class is split into four modules:

• history, context and definitions;
• clinical trials and major findings;
• neuroscience and mechanisms; and
• ethics, society and the future of psychedelics.

The modules are taught via video, and each includes a quiz and short writing assignment at the end. The entire course takes about 10 hours.

Albert Garcia-Romeu, associate director of the CPCR, teaches the first module, giving an overview of historic psychedelic use in Central and South American indigenous groups, as well as academic research that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. Sandeep Nayak, the center’s medical director, walks through what goes into clinical trials and what it’s like to participate in one, as well as where the current research stands.

The third module, taught by center director Barrett, goes into the neuroscience of psychedelic drugs, including how they affect neurons and alter brain circuits.

The final module, taught by Yaden, summarizes the course and covers risks of taking psychedelics in recreational and research settings, as well as bioethical issues and the future of the field. He also points out challenges in the field, including public misconceptions, which are addressed throughout the course.

The misconceptions Yaden refers to include that psychedelics are a cure-all for mental disorders (they’re not), or that they’re extremely dangerous and have no therapeutic potential (also an extreme position out of step with the evidence), among others. Assignments throughout the course involve challenging popular misconceptions with evidence-based information.

“As scientists who happen to study psychedelics, we're not for or against psychedelics,” Yaden says. “Our job is to produce knowledge and provide evidence-based information about psychedelics. We aim to be a kind of public utility of information about this topic.”