A new study looking at DMT effects on the brain has produced the most detailed view yet of psychedelics and DMT’s powerful potential.
The new study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, led by Chris Timmermann, head of the DMT research group at Imperial College London. The research looked at 20 healthy volunteers receiving either a 20mg injection of DMT (a substantially-sized dose) or a placebo.
The patients were then monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), with brain activity measured during before, during, and after the DMT session.
According to the researchers, the study gives us the most advanced picture to date of the human brain on psychedelics.
Our DMT Neuroimaging paper is out now in @PNASnews https://t.co/pcsSCaDKgR
TLDR: DMT is associated with a dysregulation of the developmentally/evolutionary recent cortex and linked to reduced alpha power, increased entropy, and 5-HT2AR density.
with @RCarhartHarris et al.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/zuCin3lbwb— Chris Timmermann (@neurodelia) March 20, 2023
The readings show how normal structures in the brain cease their standard hierarchal modes, with increased connectivity between regions that handle imagination and other higher-level functions.
The TOP of the principal gradient has been linked to human-specific advancements: cortical expansion, abstract semantics, and longer temporal delays https://t.co/bPTJJfrRvv
Neurosynth analysis showed DMT overlapped with language, semantic, and task regions 9/n pic.twitter.com/TngrqFCCGJ
— Chris Timmermann (@neurodelia) March 20, 2023
See this Twitter thread
from the study’s lead author for a detailed look at the findings.
Click here for a look at the full study.
