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Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

nature.com

121–130 of 206 posts

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#121
post #49

> Decreased alpha power is a particularly consistent finding in neuroimaging research with psychedelics7,8,11. Alpha is the most prominent rhythm of the resting-brain, particularly in humans, and particularly in adulthood30. Alpha has been linked with high-level psychological functioning31,32, top-down predictive processing18,33 and related feedback connectivity34 - all of which have been found to be disrupted under…

One of the worst side effects of cannabis :[ I miss dreaming and REM sleep. feelsbadman

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Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#122

> Decreased alpha power is a particularly consistent finding in neuroimaging research with psychedelics7,8,11. Alpha is the most prominent rhythm of the resting-brain, particularly in humans, and particularly in adulthood30. Alpha has been linked with high-level psychological functioning31,32, top-down predictive processing18,33 and related feedback connectivity34 - all of which have been found to be disrupted under…

Interesting! When you say executive functions, could ADHD be linked in a way to this? When I "zone out" it feels like REM dreaming while awake.

Is your "zone out" a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state ?

Because that is associated with

> ingestion of psychotropic substances

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#123
post #30

> The present study’s findings significantly advance our understanding of the brain basis of one of the most unusual and intense altered states of consciousness known – previously likened to dreaming... This study does not "find that DMT produces a dream-like state"; that was already well established. This study identifies the subtle brain activity that differentiates the hallucinations from dreaming. > This experien…

Contrary to popular opinion I haven't found DMT to be that much different than any other psychedelic drug when comparing equivalent doses. Sure it's true that while high on the drug it creates experiences that feel real, but that's true of dreaming too, isn't it? It's not obvious that it wasn't real until it's over. And similarly I have had the same feeling from high doses of "plain old" psychedelics.

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Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#124
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brilliant man, but he also believed in the luminiferous aether.

Yeah, he also didn't think nuclear power was achievable,which just proves no one is perfect.. But I can't think of anyone more genius than Tesla or Da Vinci.. and knowing their thoughts on these things is interesting =)

We can add "believed he had detected radio signals from Martians" to the list, too. I understand that Tesla was a great deal more intelligent than myself, but I'm skeptical of idols and heroes, and he was thinking in a different time without even having a thorough general education by his own time's standards. I can actually understand his belief about Martian radio signals, given his limited knowledge by modern standards and the fact that he probably lacked the statistical analysis to determine what patterns were relatively likely to appear by chance. He was undoubtedly very intelligent, but I don't think "Tesla believed it" is a compelling case for something being probable. It is interesting as historical trivia.

John von Neumann might make the list of "more intelligent," depending on how we define intelligence... not that I'm trying to idolize him, either!

Edit: To not be a total downer, I'll add my favorite Tesla quote (from 93 years ago):

> When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#125
post #96
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my thought as well, particularly the bit about following amphetamine use and the death of their mother, assuming it wasn't figurative or an arbitrary example. as someone who has experienced mania it reminded me strongly of the way i've felt in the midst of it -- the sense of mastery, the paranoia, and feeling like i had some kind of conceptual or philosophical breakthrough.

Oh, I read psychology. Actually, it was mania at one point, but, uh, I... stopped it? And then interesting things began happening. My ability to improvise on the piano improved. My appreciation of classical music grew. The paranoia was replaced by the understanding that people usually aren’t out to get me. It wasn’t so much mania as it was my social skills turning on for the first time and it was a bit intense. I’m t…

>I think if this is mania, it’s controlled mania in a way?

That sounds like hypomania. If you're relatively smart it's like a superpower, but most medical professionals do not believe its something you can control.

I know nothing about you and you could very well have experienced a spiritual awakening, and if so I'm happy for you. From what you say a lot of this stuff sounds pretty recent; if you've lived like this without the heavy down periods for many years then it's likely not what I'm talking about.

I just wanted you to know that if it is mania or hypomania, in which case you will eventually come down, you'll be OK. You'll get through it and it's OK to get some help.

All the best to you.

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting! When you say executive functions, could ADHD be linked in a way to this? When I "zone out" it feels like REM dreaming while awake.

Is your "zone out" a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state ? Because that is associated with > ingestion of psychotropic substances

I highly doubt it's a Fugue state.

>Unlike retrograde amnesia (which is popularly referred to simply as "amnesia", the state where someone forgets events before brain damage), dissociative amnesia is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication, DSM-IV Codes 291.1 & 292.83) or a neurological or other general medical condition (e.g., amnestic disorder due to a head trauma, DSM-IV Codes 294.0).[7] It is a complex neuropsychological process.

The portion you quoted is part of the criteria that excludes an episode from being labeled a Fugue state.

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#127
post #69

I'm brazilian, and lived a big part of my life in a city where there were two religious groups who did ayahuasca. In my 20's, I had quite a lot of friends who tried it, with some doing it quite frequently and a few even joining the groups as full members. The experience I had with knowing them before and after ayahuasca not too different than with other drugs/hallucinogens: my friends related life-changing events, co…

The problem with this comparison is subjectivity. We will never know if they became better versions of their own self, nothing happened or the whole thing changed them for the worse, because we would need to access the parallel in time with their lives without the experience, to objectivelly understand the phenomena.

In their particular evolutionary ladder, how many stairs they jumped?

In the end the best way to understand this, is to understand what they tell you about themselves, how they were before and after the experience. It may not look much from your perspective, but it may be something better, from their point of view at least, then what was possible before..

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#128
post #125
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I read psychology. Actually, it was mania at one point, but, uh, I... stopped it? And then interesting things began happening. My ability to improvise on the piano improved. My appreciation of classical music grew. The paranoia was replaced by the understanding that people usually aren’t out to get me. It wasn’t so much mania as it was my social skills turning on for the first time and it was a bit intense. I’m t…

>I think if this is mania, it’s controlled mania in a way? That sounds like hypomania. If you're relatively smart it's like a superpower, but most medical professionals do not believe its something you can control. I know nothing about you and you could very well have experienced a spiritual awakening, and if so I'm happy for you. From what you say a lot of this stuff sounds pretty recent; if you've lived like this w…

Some of the stuff on the hypomania page rings a bell, but I don’t think disinhibition requires testing and confronting your fears first. What I’m going through, behaviourally speaking, feels more like learning the actual vs believed limits of what I can do to affect my environment. It’s a bit like being a kid and testing borders with your parents to see how far you can take it and then gaining a little more confidence. I wait patiently to take the next step and plan things out and then execute them. Again, if I was feeling a loss of control and my behaviours made me dysfunctional, that would be the time to seek help. Instead, it would seem that I’m actually improving my life situation. The definition of mental illness isn’t symptoms but whether they are giving the patient issues interacting with their environment, and as far as I can see, I fail to satisfy that criterium.

It’s of relatively recent date, but thinking back on it, I’ve had vaguely similar experiences before. Difference is that there wasn’t the same bringing online of feelings and abilities. It wasn’t as powerful.

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#129
post #50

I've had my own dreams while awake, the key is to stay aware while you are going to sleep.. Everyone knows the state between sleeping and awake, its great. But to go to sleep while still conscious, is like advanced meditation. I've had similar experiences during meditation. The world around you merges into a dream-like state, but it all seems to feel more real than the world we usually experience while awake. Dreams…

In my "personal mystique" i have a hypothesis where the mind is really the stuff that our universe are made of. As in the universe is the product of something imagined, and giving we have the same medium that can navigate and permeate the universe we can become one with it, because in reality we are not apart from it, we just believe it and dont even try to advance into this reality where we can navigate the universe with our mind.

Im kind of shy to say this out loud here on HN with such a distinct crowd of people who really study those subjects, but given is more of a personal believe, i guess i can be forgiven if it sounds stupid or even a uninformed point of view.

Re: Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

#130
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed that it's interesting nonetheless. I've been "joking" with my friends that I want to take a trip to Costa Rica to do Ayahuasca with them. The "story" of how Ayahuasca came to be is quite fascinating: Ayahuasca, the drink, is actually comprised of two plant-based ingredients. One of the ingredients supplies the "DMT" portion, but the effects would last a very short time (something like 20 seconds to a couple mi…

This lecture from Dr. Peterson was pretty fascinating and succinct: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gol5sPM073k

Don't listen to Jordan Peterson, listen to Terence McKenna:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcRGY2Bdk0U

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