Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s, the counterculture was ever-present. Although I was too young (and later too nerdy) to participate in the drug culture, signs of psychedelic use were everywhere.

Given the recent publications about the use psychedelics and MDMA in psychotherapy, and the recent launch of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, I knew I needed to learn more.

Michael Pollan, author of the Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, tackles the topics of the psychedelics in his latest book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence .

Although I've just started, the book is fascinating. I'll report back as I work my way through the chapters.