N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) as a Psychological Phenomenon

📖 What’s This Paper About?

This paper examines N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) as a psychoactive substance, exploring both its natural occurrence in plants and the human body and its profound effects on consciousness. Written by a chemistry student, the article details DMT’s chemical properties, history of discovery, psychedelic effects, and various hypotheses about its role in human consciousness, dreams, and near-death experiences.

Why This Matters

DMT stands at the intersection of neurochemistry, consciousness studies, and mystical experience. Understanding its effects helps illuminate the neurobiological basis of perception, cognition, and altered states of consciousness that have profound implications for psychology and neuroscience.

• DMT is both endogenously produced in humans and found throughout nature, suggesting evolutionary significance
• Its effects on consciousness provide a unique window into brain function and subjective experience
• The compound challenges conventional boundaries between scientific explanation and mystical experience

Top 5 Takeaways

2. The “Machine Elves” Phenomenon

Users consistently report encounters with autonomous entities described variously as “elves,” “aliens,” “guides,” or “helpers” in seemingly independent realities. These reports transcend cultural backgrounds, raising profound questions about consciousness and perception.

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The Bigger Picture

DMT challenges the boundaries between neurochemistry, consciousness studies, and spiritual experience. Its presence across species and cultures suggests a deeper biological significance we’re only beginning to understand. The compound offers a unique tool for exploring the nature of consciousness, potentially bridging scientific materialism with experiences traditionally relegated to mystical or religious domains. The consistency of user experiences, regardless of cultural background, points to common neural mechanisms that may help explain fundamental aspects of human perception and consciousness.

Final Thought

As science continues exploring consciousness, DMT stands as a molecular key that might unlock deeper understanding of the mind-brain relationship—reminding us that the most profound frontiers of exploration may exist within our own neurochemistry.

N,N-DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

Khachatryan Ishkhan Vardanovich

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2nd year student of Chemistry Faculty, Yerevan State University

Member of Armenian Biotechnological Association, Member of Youth Chemical Association

Email: um*****************@**il.ru

Keywords: DMT-dimethyltryptamine, LD50, LSD, psychedelics, consciousness, serotonin, hallucinations

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) or N,N-dimethyltryptamine is an endogenous psychedelic produced by the pineal gland during REM sleep phase. In the human nervous system, it functions as an agonist of 5HT2A serotonin receptors. It is also an alkaloid found in many plants and a potent psychoactive substance from the tryptamine class. DMT is chemically similar to serotonin, one of the important neurotransmitters in mammalian brains. It is also produced in small quantities by the human body during normal metabolism.

DMT is a psychedelic that induces altered states of consciousness with religious-mystical experiences, intense visual and auditory hallucinations, and changes in perception of time and reality.

Pure DMT is a crystalline powder, either transparent or with a white to yellowish-red tint.

Dimethyltryptamine

Systematic name: 2-(1H-indol-3-yl)-N,N-dimethyl-ethanamine

Chemical formula: C₁₂H₁₆N₂

Physical properties

State: solid, white, crystalline
Molar mass: 188.2688 ± 0.0111 g/mol
Density: 1.076 g/cm³

Thermal properties

Melting point: 47°C
Boiling point: 332.12°C
Decomposition temperature: 49°C
Flash point: 154.66°C

Chemical properties

Acid dissociation constant (pK_a): 8.68

Safety

LD₅₀: 32 mg/kg (mice, intravenously)
Toxicity: toxic

Data provided for standard conditions (25°C, 100 kPa)

History

The first chemical synthesis of DMT was carried out by English chemist Richard Manske in 1931.

In 1946, Brazilian ethnobotanist and chemist Goncalves de Lima isolated DMT from Mimosa root (Mimosa tenuiflora) and named this substance “Nigerine.”

The psychotropic properties of DMT were first studied in the mid-1950s by Hungarian doctor Stephen Szára. Interested in psychoactive substances, Dr. Szára ordered LSD from the Sandoz company. Recently discovered at that time, LSD generated great interest among scientists. However, Sandoz refused to supply it for fear that LSD would fall into the hands of the communist regime, which could have undesirable consequences. Unable to obtain LSD, Dr. Szára turned his attention to the chemically less complex DMT, hypothesizing its psychoactive properties due to its similarity to serotonin.

Psychedelic Properties

People who have experienced DMT trips often say that these experiences are so different from anything known to humans that they are practically impossible to describe or express in verbal or other form. Some users report extremely intense visual and sensory experiences of an erotic nature when using DMT in a ritual sexual context.

Professor Alan Watts described the effect of DMT as: “Load universe into cannon. Aim at brain. Fire!”

In studies conducted between 1990-1995 by psychiatrist Rick Strassman at the University of New Mexico, it was found that many of the participating volunteers experienced encounters with extraterrestrial life among beings characterized as “elves,” “aliens,” “guides,” and “helpers.” Visually, some of these beings resembled clowns, reptiles, praying mantises, bees, spiders, cacti, gnomes, and figures made of sticks. At least one research participant reported sexual contact with one of these beings, while others often reported erotic experiences. In general, all research participants reported that these beings were inhabitants of a parallel, independent reality, which is accessed through taking DMT.

Methods of Administration

When taken orally, DMT is generally not very active because it is rapidly metabolized by the body. To obtain psychoactive effects with oral administration, DMT must be combined with one of the monoamine oxidase inhibitors, such as harmaline. Other methods of DMT administration include inhalation with smoke (smoking) or injection, which causes a very strong, rapidly occurring effect lasting for a short time (usually less than half an hour). The psychedelic effect of DMT is enhanced when taken together with pindolol.

Symptoms of drug use may include:

• Increased blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Pupil dilation
• Hand tremors
• Pallor
• Dry skin
• Strong excitement
• Impaired coordination
• Often complete lack of self-control
• Panic attack
• Feeling that one is going insane
• In frequent DMT users – depressive psychoses, apathy, mental disorders

Side Effects

DMT vapors cause unpleasant sensations in the lungs. According to Rick Strassman’s research – “Dimethyltryptamine, somewhat depending on the dose, causes an increase in arterial pressure, heart rate, pupil diameter, rectal temperature, in addition to increasing blood concentrations of beta-endorphins, corticotropin, cortisol and prolactin. Growth hormone levels also increased at any dose of DMT, but there was no effect on melatonin levels.”

Presence in Plants

DMT occurs naturally in many plants, often in combination with chemically similar substances 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT). Herbs containing DMT are often used by shamans in South America. In the ayahuasca drink, plants containing DMT are used to give it psychoactive effects.

Some plants containing DMT:

• Mimosa tenuiflora
• Diplopterys cabrerana (chaliponga)
• Psychotria viridis (chacruna)
• Virola
• Anadenanthera peregrina (yopo)
• Anadenanthera colubrina

Biosynthesis

In nature, DMT is formed from the amino acid L-tryptophan. L-tryptophan itself is a proteinogenic amino acid present in all known forms of life. Tryptophan is synthesized from anthranilic acid, which in turn is synthesized from carbohydrate metabolism products via shikimic acid in a metabolic process called the shikimate pathway. Plants synthesize tryptophan independently, while animals obtain this amino acid from food (tryptophan is an essential amino acid for animals). Regardless of the source of L-tryptophan, the biosynthesis of DMT itself is relatively simple and involves three enzymatic reactions:

1. L-Tryptophan is decarboxylated by the enzyme aromatic amino acid decarboxylase to form tryptamine.
2. Tryptamine undergoes transmethylation: the enzyme indolamine-N-methyltransferase (INMT) catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from the cofactor S-Adenosylmethionine through nucleophilic attack of the tryptamine amino group. This reaction yields the intermediate product N-methyltryptamine (NMT) and converts S-Adenosylmethionine to S-Adenosylhomocysteine (SAH).
3. N-methyltryptamine (NMT) is transmethylated once more in the same way, producing dimethyltryptamine.

Chemical Classification

DMT is a derivative of tryptamine, whose molecule includes two additional methyl groups at the nitrogen atom position of the amine group.

A typical way to obtain DMT is the Speeter-Anthony synthesis, where the reagents are indole, oxalyl chloride, dimethylamine, and lithium aluminum hydride. Usually DMT is used in its base form, although DMT salts, such as fumaric acid salt, are more stable forms. DMT salts are soluble in water, while its base form is not. DMT in solution rapidly decomposes when exposed to oxygen, light, and heat, so it should be stored in a closed container, in the dark, in a refrigerator. The pure substance can crystallize in the form of small white needle-shaped crystals.

Hypotheses

In a series of theories proposed by different researchers, it is suggested that endogenous DMT produced by the human brain in certain psychological and neurological states is used by the organism to induce visual effects during natural dreaming, near-death experiences and pre-agonal states of the brain, as well as other mystical experiences. The biochemical mechanism of this phenomenon was proposed by researcher JC Callaway in a 1988 paper, where it was suggested that DMT might be associated with the phenomenon of dreaming and other natural states of the brain, where the mechanism is an increase in the level of endogenous DMT in the human brain.

In Rick Strassman’s research in the 1990s, it was suggested that the human brain produces a release of large amounts of DMT from the pineal gland at the moment preceding death or during the experience of a near-death state. This explains the intense visual effects reported by people who have experienced clinical death or near-death states. In the 1950s, there was a popular theory that endogenous production of psychoactive agents explained the symptoms of hallucinating patients with certain mental illnesses (“transmethylation hypothesis”). In particular, they tried to find an explanation for schizophrenia in this way. However, this theory could not explain the presence of endogenous DMT in normal healthy people, as well as in laboratory mice and other animals. In light of this, the assumption about the function of endogenous DMT as an agent causing the visual effects of natural dreams seems more substantial.

However, exact proof of this assumption is impossible for ethical reasons — biological samples for research would have to be obtained from a living human brain.

Terence McKenna, author of several books mentioning DMT, described his experience of use in which he encountered beings he called “Self-Transforming Machine Elves.” McKenna attributes to DMT the role of a tool that can be used to communicate with beings from other worlds. Similar reports are also given by other users who have experienced DMT trips. There are also frequent reports of encounters with intelligent beings who try to find out information about our reality.

“DMT: The Spirit Molecule” is one of the most famous books about DMT, written by Rick Strassman, a medical researcher.

Strassman suggests that the pineal gland produces DMT in a natural process, given that all the necessary components for this process are found there. However, no one has yet tried to directly detect DMT in the pineal gland.

This is informational, not medical advice.

Sources

Sources

1. Strassman, Rick. "DMT: The Spirit Molecule"

2. Terence McKenna. "Food of the Gods" (Chapter 14. A Brief History of Psychedelics)

3. Alan Watts: Psychedelics and Religious Experience