Abstract
BACKGROUND: N,N-dimethyltryptamine is a short-acting psychedelic tryptamine found naturally in many plants and animals. Few studies to date have addressed the neural and psychological effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine alone, either administered intravenously or inhaled in freebase form, and none have been conducted in natural settings.
AIMS: Our primary aim was to study the acute effects of inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine in natural settings, focusing on questions tuned to the advantages of conducting field research, including the effects of contextual factors (i.e. "set" and "setting"), the possibility of studying a comparatively large number of subjects, and the relaxed mental state of participants consuming N,N-dimethyltryptamine in familiar and comfortable settings.
METHODS: We combined state-of-the-art wireless electroencephalography with psychometric questionnaires to study the neural and subjective effects of naturalistic N,N-dimethyltryptamine use in 35 healthy and experienced participants.
RESULTS: We observed that N,N-dimethyltryptamine significantly decreased the power of alpha (8-12 Hz) oscillations throughout all scalp locations, while simultaneously increasing power of delta (1-4 Hz) and gamma (30-40 Hz) oscillations. Gamma power increases correlated with subjective reports indicative of some features of mystical-type experiences. N,N-dimethyltryptamine also increased global synchrony and metastability in the gamma band while decreasing those measures in the alpha band.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with previous studies of psychedelic action in the human brain, while at the same time the results suggest potential electroencephalography markers of mystical-type experiences in natural settings, thus highlighting the importance of investigating these compounds in the contexts where they are naturally consumed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 406-420 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Psychopharmacology |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Administration, Inhalation
- Adult
- Biological Availability
- Consciousness Disorders/chemically induced
- Drug Monitoring/methods
- Electroencephalography/methods
- Female
- Hallucinogens/administration & dosage
- Humans
- Male
- Mysticism/psychology
- N,N-Dimethyltryptamine/administration & dosage
- Outcome Assessment, Health Care
- Personality Inventory
- Psychometrics/methods
- Relaxation Therapy/methods
- Self Concept
- Self Report
- Wireless Technology