Selected Publications

Books:

D. E. Presti. (2018). Mind Beyond Brain: Buddhism, Science, and the Paranormal.  New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

D. E. Presti. (2016). Foundational Concepts in Neuroscience: A Brain-Mind Odyssey.  New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Articles, Essays, and Chapters:

D. E. Presti. (2024). Foreword (pp. 13-15) in Ralph Metzner, Explorer of Consciousness: The Life and Legacy of a Psychedelic Pioneer. Edited by Cathy Coleman. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

D. E. Presti. (2023). Sasha Shulgin and the alchemy of education. Afterword (pp. 375-378) in The Nature of Drugs: History, Pharmacology, and Social Impact, Volume 2, by Alexander ‘Sasha’ Shulgin. Santa Fe, NM: Synergetic Press.

M. C. Mithoefer & D. E. Presti. (2023). MDMA. Chapter 4 (pp. 39-51) in Psychedelics as Psychiatric Medicines (edited by D. Nutt & D. Castle). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

D. E. Presti. (2023). A guide to maps for knowing thyself. Foreword (pp. xi-xiv) in Maps of Consciousness: The Classic Text on Exploring the Mind and Expanding Awareness, by Ralph Metzner. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

D. E. Presti. (2021). Expanding a science of consciousness. Chapter 9 (pp. 323-358) in Consciousness Unbound (edited by E. F. Kelly & P. Marshall). Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield. [PDF]

K. Panik & D. E. Presti. (2021). LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide). Chapter 8 (pp. 159-180) in Handbook of Medical Hallucinogens (edited by C. S. Grob & J. Grigsby). New York, NY: Guilford Press. [PDF]

D. E. Presti. (2020). Collaborative dialogue between Buddhism and science: A contribution to expanding a science of consciousness. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 528, 2804-2815. [PDF]

D. E. Presti. (2019). A memorial tribute to Ralph Metzner: Scholar, teacher, shaman. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 51(1), 1-5. [PDF]

D. E. Presti. (2019). Putting mind back into nature: A tribute to Henry P. Stapp. (A contribution to a collection of essays honoring Henry P. Stapp on the occasion of his 90th birthday in Spring 2018). arXiv.org > quantitative biology: 1904.10528. [LINK]  Published in final form: Activitas Nervosa Superior, 61, 18-23. [PDF]

C. Vieten, . . . D. E. Presti, et al. (2018). Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science. PLoS ONE, 13 (11), e0205740. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205740. [LINK]

D. E. Presti. (2017). Altered states of consciousness: Drug-induced states. The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (2nd edition) (edited by S. Schneider & M. Velmans). pp. 171-186. Chichester, UK: John Wiley. {Reprinted in Consciousness (Critical Concepts in Psychology), edited by M. Velmans, London: Routledge. (2018).} [PDF]

E. F. Kelly & D. E. Presti. (2015). A psychobiological perspective on "transmission" models.  Beyond Physicalism: Toward Reconciliation of Science and Spirituality (edited by E.F. Kelly, A. Crabtree, & P. Marshall), pp. 115-155.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

D. E. Presti. (2014). Too big for a Nobel Prize: Remembering Sasha Shulgin. MAPS Bulletin, 24(3), 46-49. [LINK]

D. E. Presti. (2012). Essay in Beyond the Robe: Science for Monks and All It Reveals about Tibetan Monks and Nuns, by Bobby Sager, pp. 235-237. Brooklyn, NY: powerHouse Books.

D. E. Presti & K. Panik. (2012). The science of antidepressants. Inquiring Mind, 29(1), 16-17.

J. R. Coyle, D. E. Presti, & M. J. Baggott. (2012). Quantitative analysis of narrative reports of psychedelic drugs.  arXiv.org > quantitative biology: 1206.0312. [LINK]

D. E. Presti. (2012). The mind-body problem. Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 2nd edition. Amsterdam, NL: Elsevier Press.

D. E. Presti. (2012). Drugs, the brain, and behavior. Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 2nd edition. Amsterdam, NL: Elsevier Press.

D. E. Presti. (2011). Neurochemistry and altered consciousness. Altering Consciousness: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (edited by E. Cardena & M. Winkelman), vol. 2, chap. 2, pp. 20-41. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Press.

D. E. Presti. (2010). The innkeeper's work. An Actual Man: Michael Murphy and the Human Potential Movement (edited by J. Ogilvy). Berkeley, CA: Minuteman Press. [PDF]

O. L. Carter, D. E. Presti, et al. (2005). Meditation alters perceptual rivalry in Tibetan Buddhist monks. Current Biology, 15, R412-R413. [PDF]

M. S. Jacob & D. E. Presti. (2005). Endogenous psychoactive tryptamines reconsidered: an anxiolytic role for dimethyltryptamine. Medical Hypothesis, 64, 930-937. [PDF]

D. E. Presti & D. E. Nichols. (2004). Biochemistry and neuropharmacology of psilocybin mushrooms. Teonanacatl: Sacred Mushrooms of Visions (edited by R. Metzner), pp. 89-108. Sonoma, CA: Green Earth Foundation. [PDF]

D. E. Presti. (2002). Psychoactive drugs. Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 1st edition. Amsterdam, NL: Elsevier Press.

D. E. Presti & J. E. Beck. (2001). Strychnine and other enduring myths: expert and user folklore surrounding LSD. Psychoactive Sacramentals: the Vallombrosa Conference (edited by T. B. Roberts), pp. 125-137. San Francisco, CA: Council on Spiritual Practices.  {Reprinted: as "Myths and misperceptions" in The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys, by J. Fadiman, pp. 90-102. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press. (2011); and in Spiritual  Growth with Entheogens: Psychoactive Sacramentals and Human Transformation, edited by T. B. Roberts, pp. 144-160. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press. (2012).} [PDF]

Several Oldies but Goodies:

J. M. Barrie & D. E. Presti. (2000). Digital plagiarism: The web giveth and the web shall taketh. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2(1), e6.

J. M. Barrie & D. E. Presti. (1996). The worldwide web as an instructional tool. Science, 274, 371-372. [PDF]

D. E. Presti & R. E. Schultes. (1993). Review of Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine (by L. Grinspoon & J. B. Bakalar). Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 25, 269-270.

D. Presti & R. West. (1992). Introduction to Laughing Gas: Nitrous Oxide (edited by M. Shedlin, D. Wallechinsky, & S. Salyer). Berkeley, CA: Ronin Press. [PDF]

UC Berkeley Blog (decommissioned as of 2024)

Ann Shulgin: Radiant Nexus of Psychedelic Community (July 2022)

Reflecting on a pandemic and its aftermath, in fiction and reality (April 2020)

The passing of a giant in the exploration of psychedelics and consciousness (April 2019)

Shake It Up, UC Berkeley Graduates! (June 2014)

Hail and farewell to a legendary Cal grad (June 2014)

The Nobel Prize that wasn't (June 2012)

This is your brain on fossil fuel (November 2011)

Legend of a mind: the archives of Timothy Leary (June 2011)

Other of Interest:

Interview in Berkeley Scientific Journal, 23(2), 44-48 (2019): Bridging science and Buddhism: Toward an expanded understanding of mind. [PDF]