Questions For World-Leading Scientist Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris

One of the world's leading psychedelic researchers will be on the podcast soon. Drop your questions in the comments.

Hi everyone,

I’m excited to confirm that Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD — one of the world’s leading psychedelic researchers — will be on my podcast in 9 days.

Robin is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and he specializes in the study of how psychedelics such as LSD, DMT, and psilocybin impact the human brain — particularly in the treatment of psychological disorders such as depression, OCD, addiction, anorexia, and PTSD.

Here’s a summary of his cutting-edge work:

Robin Carhart-Harris is best known for pioneering modern psychedelic neuroscience, using fMRI and MEG imaging to reveal how substances like psilocybin and LSD alter brain function. His early studies showed that psychedelics reduce activity in the brain’s default mode network (DMN), associated with self-referential thought and the sense of ego — findings that helped explain the experience of ego dissolution. Building on this, he proposed the entropic brain hypothesis, which posits that psychedelics shift the brain into a more disordered but flexible state, allowing for greater inter-network communication and a loosening of rigid cognitive patterns.

In later work, Carhart-Harris co-developed the REBUS model ("Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics") with Karl Friston, integrating predictive coding theory to suggest that psychedelics work by weakening high-level priors — the deeply held beliefs that shape perception and behavior — enabling more adaptive mental frameworks to emerge. He also explored how psychedelics tune the brain toward criticality — the edge between order and chaos — which may represent an optimal state for neural plasticity, emotional insight, and cognitive reorganization. These theories offer a mechanistic foundation for the profound therapeutic effects seen in his clinical trials, where psychedelics have shown promise in treating depression, anxiety, and addiction.

I’ve been familiar with Robin’s neuroscientific research into psychedelics for some time — but I became an avid follower when I heard his brilliant conversation with Jordan Peterson on psychedelic-assisted psychological transformation:

You can also watch his Huberman Lab podcast here (which I’ve just started):

Feel free to start consuming these podcasts (I’m re-listening to the JBP one because it was so fascinating) and if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below.

I’m opening questions to all subscribers for this one — usually this is only a paid member option!

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