New Study Sees How DMT Affects the Brain Like Never Before
Psychedelics are a growing interest in medical sciences and DMT is particularly special
Hiya!
The idea that reality is nothing more than a convincing illusion created by our brains is well-known and hard to argue against. I mean, we each have unique and subjective perspectives of the world. Our internal and external experiences shape our opinions and beliefs about who we are, how the world works, and the rules governing both.
But psychedelics, specifically DMT, are like the seemingly trouble-maker friend (but who actually has your best interest at heart) who convinces you to skip studying and sneak out to a party after your parents go to bed. Except the party has colorful geometric patterns and mystical sentient Beings to chat with, who help you dissolve your ego and alter your thought patterns even after you get home.
What is DMT?
DMT stands for N-Dimethyltryptamine. It’s part of a group of chemical compounds called tryptamines that have a similar structure to serotonin and melatonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate our appetite, mood, memory, and sleep, while melatonin is a hormone responsible for our circadian rhythm — although there’s still some mystery about melatonin’s full effects.
Anyway, DMT changes serotonin levels in the central nervous system and produces a powerfully immersive altered state of consciousness that can include vivid hallucinations of sentient beings and even visiting other dimensions. DMT is widespread in nature and can be found in both plants and animals — even us. Plenty of research shows traces of indole-ethylamine-methyltransferase (INMT), a key enzyme for DMT synthesis, in the human pineal gland and cerebral cortex.
Of all the psychedelics out there, DMT is often touted as being the most powerful one known to humankind — and that’s saying something since the effects of DMT only last a mere 5 to 15 minutes compared to several hours like the effects of psilocybin mushrooms or LSD. DMT’s effects are so powerful that for some, it’s known as “The Spirit Molecule.”
DMT’s Long History
If archeology has taught us anything, it’s that our ancient human ancestors enjoyed the occasional psychedelic trip — and while not a psychedelic, they also enjoyed marijuana’s psychoactive effects — thousands of years ago.
In 2019, archaeologists found a leather pouch in a Bolivian cave dating between 900 BCE and 1170 CE. Further analysis of its interior showed traces of cocaine, DMT, and other psychoactive substances. The pouch was part of a bundle that included small spatulas made of llama bones, a brightly colored headband, and wooden snuffing tablets. The researchers believe it belonged to ritual specialists (shamans) during pre-Columbian times and suggest they had strong “sophisticated botanical knowledge.”
DMT is also the main ingredient in the ancient hallucination-inducing brew known as ayahuasca, which indigenous cultures throughout Central and South America drank. Even today, nearly 100 indigenous groups continue using ayahuasca as medicine throughout Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and across the Amazon Basin.
New Research: DMT and the Brain
Modern-day scientists are understandably curious about DMT’s mind-bending effects. Christopher Timmermann, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, summarizes DMT’s uniqueness in an interview with Nautilus :
“The DMT experience is one in which people report going into a different dimension, an alternate reality that feels convincingly real, even more real than this everyday reality. One that has a spiritual significance.”
A team led by Timmermann set out to capture the most advanced imagining yet of the human brain on psychedelics — and they succeeded. The short answer for what they found is that DMT creates a sort of hyperconnectivity in our brains. More specifically, our regular hierarchical organization goes wonky, our electrical activity goes haywire, and connectivity between brain regions skyrockets — especially while actively using our imagination. Timmermann explains that “The stronger the intensity of the experience, the more hyperconnected were those brain areas.”
For their study, twenty healthy participants were given either a placebo or a highly potent, intravenous dose of DMT while having their brain waves recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) and their brains scanned with functional MRI simultaneously. In an article by Big Think about their research, the team explains:
“This approach offers an important advancement because it enables the direct observation of changes in neuronal activity (EEG) in parallel with indirect changes seen through the fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal.”
One reason this study is exciting is that this is the first time both technologies have been used simultaneously while examining a brain on psychedelics. Another reason is because of the study’s results.
The Results
Timmerann and his team watched as the DMT-altered brains’ hierarchical organization collapsed and brain-wide hyperconnectivity took over. The number of neutral states a brain can access at any given time is called brain entropy, and it soared under DMT’s influence. In his Nautilus interview, Timmermann clarifies:
“The brain usually functions in this modular, organized, hierarchical way. You have different networks and systems that crystallize as we grow older. What we see with DMT is that the systems that generate complex behaviors and tasks stop working in this specialized fashion. They start to work in synchrony with the rest of the brain.”
Intriguingly, some of the patterns Timmermann’s team observed are similar (though not identical) to ones seen in the brains of people with schizophrenia, experienced meditators during meditation, and even in infants.
Perspective Shift
Mainstream medical sciences have understandably taken a considerable interest in our brains’ relationship with psychedelics. Learning more about this relationship could help experts further understand various mental health disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to schizophrenia. But they also just might help us understand consciousness itself a little better.
Learning about DMT, its effects, and our species’ long history with it reminds me of a book I read a while back called The Boy Who Saw True. It has no author — or at least, you never learn his name — but it’s supposedly an actual diary of a young boy who grew up in the Victorian Era in Britain who is clairvoyant but doesn’t realize it. It’s a fun read regardless of whether it’s true, but in it, the boy sees people’s auras along with ghosts, fairies, and other Beings invisible to most people.
When I was a kid, I wondered if there were entities around that I couldn’t see — not because they weren’t there but because my eyes weren’t equipped to see them. It’s unlikely, but what if there is some truth to it? What if DMT doesn’t make us hallucinate but rewires our brain to allow us to bare witness to what is around us all the time? We just aren’t typically aware of it.
I mean, probably not, but maybe… After all, during a DMT experience, many people have similar reports of seeing and interacting with beings. So many people, in fact, that these Beings have become commonly referred to as ‘elves.’ They apparently appear autonomous, existing in reality, independent from our own. Regardless, it’s fun to think about, and I’m excited to see what experts learn next.
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