an interesting article

[Guest guest]

Hello, everybody, and Happy New Year!

Here is an interesting article on, potentially, the brain chemistry aspect

of spirituality.

Love to all,

Marina

 

 

Biology 202

2003 First Web Paper

On Serendip

 

The Spirit Molecule (DMT): An Endogenous Psychoactive

Neesha Patel

" The feeling of doing DMT is as though one had been struck by noetic

lightning. The ordinary world is almost instantaneously replaced, not only

with a hallucination, but a hallucination whose alien character is its utter

 

alienness. Nothing in this world can prepare one for the impressions that

fill your mind when you enter the DMT sensorium. " - McKenna.

 

N,N-dimethyltryptamine(DMT) is a psychoactive chemical in the tryptamine

family, which causes intense visuals and strong psychedelic mental affects

when smoked, injected, snorted, or when swallowed orally (with an MAOI such

as haramaline). DMT was first synthesized in 1931, and demonstrated to be

hallucinogenic in 1956. It has been shown to be present in many plant genera

 

(Acacia, Anadenanthera, Mimosa, Piptadenia, Virola) and is a major component

 

of several hallucinogenic snuffs (cohoba, parica, yopo). It is also present

in the intoxicating beverage ayahuasca made from banisteriopsis caapi. This

drink inspired much rock art and paintings drawn on the walls of native

shelters in tribal Africa- what would be called 'psychedelic' art today

(Bindal, 1983). The mechanism of action of DMT and related compounds is

still a scientific mystery, however DMT has been identified as an endogenous

 

psychadelic- it is a neurotransmitter found naturally in the human body and

takes part in normal brain metabolism. Twenty-five years ago, Japanese

scientists discovered that the brain actively transports DMT across the

blood-brain barrier into its tissues. " I know of no other psychedelic drug

that the brain treats with such eagerness, " said one of the scientists. What

 

intrigued me were the questions, how and why does DMT alter our perception

so drastically if it is already present in our bodies?

 

DMT is known as the " spirit molecule " because it elicits with reasonable

reliability, certain psychological states that are considered 'spiritual.'

These are feelings of extraordinary joy, timelessness, and a certainty that

what we are experiencing is more real than present day reality. DMT leads us

 

to an acceptance of the coexistence of opposites, such as life and death,

good and evil; a knowledge that consciousness continues after death; a deep

understanding of the basic unity of all phenomena; and a sense of wisdom or

love pervading all existence. The smoked DMT experience is short, but

generally incredibly intense. Onset is fast and furious, and thus the term

" mind-blowing " was used to describe the effect. It is a fully engaging and

enveloping experience of visions and visuals, which vary greatly from one

individual to the next. Users report visiting other worlds, talking with

alien entities, profound changes in ontological perspective, fanciful

dreamscapes, frightening and overwhelming forces, complete shifts in

perception and identity followed by an abrupt return to baseline. " The

effect can be like instant transportation to another universe for a timeless

 

sojourn " (Alan Watts).

 

The physical and psychological effects of DMT include a powerful rushing

sensation, intense open eye visuals, radical perspective shifting, stomach

discomfort, overwhelming fear, color changes and auditory hallucination

(buzzing sounds). One of the primary physical problems encountered with

smoked DMT is the harsh nature of the smoke which can cause throat and lung

irritation. Surprisingly however, DMT is neither physically addictive nor

likely to cause psychological dependence (Szara, 1967).

 

Most subjects were reported to have had memorable positive experiences,

however the possibility of unpleasant experiences is not ruled out. William

Borroughs, a psychologist in London tried it and reported of it in most

negative terms. Burroughs was working at the time on a theory of

neurological geography and after trying DMT, he described certain cortical

areas as 'heavenly', while others were 'diabolical'. In Burroughs'

pharmacological cartography, DMT propelled the voyager into strange and

decidedly unfriendly territory. The lesson however, was clear. DMT, like the

 

other psychedelic keys, could open an infinity of possibilities. Set,

setting, suggestibility and temperamental background were always present as

filters through which the ecstatic experience could be distorted (Jacobs,

1987).

 

The brain however, is where DMT exerts its most interesting effects. The

brain is a highly sensitive organ, especially susceptible to toxins and

metabolic imbalances. In the brain, sites rich in DMT-sensitive serotonin

receptors are involved in mood, perception, and thought. Although the brain

denies access to most drugs and chemicals, it takes a particular and

remarkable fancy to DMT. According to one scientist, " it is not stretching

the truth to suggest that the brain hungers for it. " A nearly impenetrable

shield, the blood-brain barrier, prevents unwelcome agents from leaving the

blood and crossing the capillary walls into the brain tissue. This defense

extends to keep out the complex carbohydrates and fats that other tissues

use for energy, as the brain only uses glucose or simple sugars as its

energy sources. Amino acids are among the few molecules that are transported

 

across the blood brain barrier and thus to find that brain actively

transported DMT into its tissues was astounding. DMT is part of a high

turnover system and is rapidly broken down once it enters the brain, giving

it the ability to exert its effects in a short period of time. Researchers

labeled DMT as 'brain food,' as it was treated in a manner similar to how

the brain handles glucose. In the early nineties, DMT was thought to be

required by the brain in small quantities to maintain normal functioning and

 

only when DMT levels crossed a threshold did a person undergo 'unusual

experiences.' These unusual experiences involved a separation of

consciousness from the body and when psychedelic effects completely replaced

 

the mind's normal thought processes. This hypothesis led scientists to

believe that as an endogenous psychedelic, DMT may be involved in naturally

occurring psychedelic states that have nothing to do with taking drugs, but

whose similarities to drug-induced conditions are striking. DMT was

considered to be a possible 'schizotoxin' which could be linked to states

such as psychosis and schizophrenia. " It may be upon endogenous DMT's wings

that we experience other life-changing states of mind associated with birth,

 

death and near-death, entity or alien contact experiences, and

mystical/spiritual consciousness " (Strassman, 2001).

 

Hallucinogenic drugs have multiple effects on central neurotransmission. In

1997, it was found that like LSD and Psilocybin, DMT has the property of

increasing the metabolic turnover of serotonin in the body. Serotonin is

found in specific neurons in the brain that mediate chemical

neurotransmission. Axons of serotonergic neurons project to almost every

part of the brain, affecting overall communication within the brain. Early

in the research on hallucinogens, it was determined that hallucinogenic

drugs structurally resemble serotonin (5-HT) and thus researchers thought

that DMT bound itself to serotonin receptors in the cerebral cortex

(Strassman, 1990).

 

Further, an increase in 5-hydroxy-IAA excretion suggests the involvement of

serotonin in DMT action and elevated blood levels of indoleacetic acid (IAA)

 

are seen during the time of peak effects, implying its role as a metabolite.

 

The relationship between DMT and serotonin led researchers to become

interested in the pineal gland. The pineal gland in humans regulates

homeostasis of the body and body rhythms. A dysfunction could be associated

with mental disorders presenting themselves as disturbances of normal sleep

patterns, seasonal affective disorders, bipolar disorder, and chronic

schizophrenia. Strassman proposed that the pineal gland, besides producing

melatonin, is associated with 'unusual states of consciousness.' For

example, it possesses the highest levels of serotonin in the body and

contains the necessary building blocks to make DMT. The pineal gland also

has the ability to convert serotonin to tryptamine, a critical step in DMT

formation. In addition, 5-methoxy-tryptamine, which is a precursor of

several hallucinogens, has been found in pineal tissue [bosin and Beck,

1979; Pevet, 1983] and in the cerebrospinal fluid [Koslow, 1976; Prozialeck

et al., 1978].

 

Every night Pinoline (made by the pineal gland), DMT and 5meoDMT are

produced in the brain and are the causal agents of vivid dreams. The

interior dialogue produced on a DMT trip leads scientists to believe that

the language centers are also affected. Of late, various experiments have

been conducted that show that DMT allows awareness of processes at a

cellular or even atomic level. Could DMT smokers be tapping into the network

 

of cells in the brain or into communication among molecules themselves?

 

According to Groff, the major psychedelics do not produce specific

pharmacologic states (i.e-toxic psychosis) but are unspecific amplifiers of

mental processes (Groff, 1980). At the same time, the identification of 5HT2

 

receptors as possibly being involved in the action of hallucinogens has

provided a focal point for new studies. Is there a prototypic classical

hallucinogen? Until we have the answers to such questions, we continue to

seek out the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives.

 

Sources

 

Szara, S. Hallucinogenic Drugs- Curse or Blessing? Am J Psychiatry 123:

1513-1518, 1967.

 

Strassman, R. Human Hallucinogenic Drug Research: Regulatory, Clinical and

Scientific Issues. Brain Res. 162. 1990.

 

B.L. Jacobs. 1987. How Hallucinogenic Drugs Work. " American Scientist " .

75:385-92.

 

M.C. Bindal, S.P. Gupta, and P. Singh. 1983. QSAR Studies on Hallucinogens.

'Chemical Reviews'. 83:633-49.

 

Groff, S. Realms of the Human Unconcious: Observations from LSD Research.

Jeremy Tarcher Inc., LA. 1980, pp 87-99.

 

www.erowid.Org <http://www.erowid.org/>

 

http://www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/146.pdf

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thank you Marina! Happy new year to you. Nice to read you again! -