Most of today’s university-led psychedelic research with human participants focuses on therapeutic applications. Through clinical trials, psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin (the active substance in “magic mushrooms”) have shown promise in the treatment of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addictions. However, little is known about the brain mechanisms and psychological processes that underlie these therapeutic effects. The BCSP aims to fill that gap by conducting basic research in healthy volunteers to investigate the mechanisms of action of psychedelics. Contingent on regulatory approval of research protocols, BCSP researchers will employ low doses of psilocybin to study neurobiological, perceptual, and cognitive aspects of the psychedelic experience, including creativity, flexibility, and top-down and bottom-up sensory processing. Other studies will focus on enduring transformative effects of high-dose psychedelic experiences on emotion, stress regulation, and inflammation. The research team includes scientists with expertise in neuroscience and visual perception, cognitive psychology, emotion science, and psychiatry, and several members have extensive experience administering psychedelic compounds to human subjects in clinical trials.