Dimethyltryptamine - Kenton Anderson

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a psychoactive chemical produced within mammals and 65 different plant species. There is a gland located in the very center of the brain, called the pineal gland, where scientists believe this powerful chemical is produced. Evidence isn’t complete but the pineal gland is though to produce DMT during particular times in a persons life particularly during sleep, birth, death, and near death experiences. These educated beliefs raise many questions regarding spirituality and consciousness. The pineal gland in general functions in a persons wake/sleep cycles including dreaming. We all know how powerful dreams can be and the feelings we get from them oven though its just a dream, or is it? Natural function of DMT in the human body is unknown but we know that it acts as an agonist at some serotonin (neurotransmitter) receptors and an antagonist at others. Serotonin is thought to produce a feeling of well being in the human body so comparing its related receptor site to DMT may give us some insight into the function of DMT but the human brain is not that simple and correlation is difficult. Historically DMT has been used by South American Shaman for the purpose of spiritual healing in the form of a concoction called Ayahuasca. This concoction is a mix of DMT and MAOI’s (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) that basically makes the powerful psychological feelings last for hours. Without the added MAOI’s in the drink the effects would only last 15 minutes or less due to the naturally quick breakdown in the human body. DMT induced experiences vary but all are described as very intense and uncontrollable leaving the subject with some kind of epiphany or knowledge. It seems the human body is geared to receive experiences induced by DMT, but why? And why during sleep, death and birth? This leads us to believe that DMT functions in a much bigger picture than we know.

Psycadellic Frontier (n.d.) Retrieved from http://intellihub.com/2013/05/31/study-discovers-dmt-in-pineal-glands-of-live-rats/