Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 97 posts

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#11

Post by DJBunnies »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #10
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I believe whats happening at a certain level all brains encode an abstract conscious reality-stream in a similar way, and as such distortions to the brain manifest in similar ways for everyone. The fact that DMT entities are so common tells us that the perception of other consciousness's is a primitive attribute in however our world-state is managed by the brain. Flip a few random bits in an image, you get pixels. Fl…

Have you tried it?

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#12

Post by mistermann »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #10
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I believe whats happening at a certain level all brains encode an abstract conscious reality-stream in a similar way, and as such distortions to the brain manifest in similar ways for everyone. The fact that DMT entities are so common tells us that the perception of other consciousness's is a primitive attribute in however our world-state is managed by the brain. Flip a few random bits in an image, you get pixels. Fl…

And some literally don't believe in them. Each person practices their own style of epistemology, usually using binary. "Whatever gets you through the night" they say!

Personally, I think it's fun to dream what might be the case, or what could be some day. :)

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#13

Post by mistermann »

prox wrote: post #3
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I would advice against prolonged use or using it often. I have seen people around me change their behavior irrationally and erratically, and not for the good, as in not being able to regulate their emotions in a sensible fashion. So while fascinating perhaps, I don’t think it is always used responsibly.

"Sensible" is a function of the frame of reference (culture, era, religion, profession, upbringing, ingested information/"facts", etc) of the observer.

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#14

Post by jallasprit »

reportgunner wrote: post #7
aziaziazi wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many would say the same about friends taking antidepressants as IMA, ISRS, ATC… or others DANGEROUS stuff as opioids. An average 2023 pharma shopping bag is highly dangerous when not used responsibly ! Moreover, DMT does not induce any addiction, which may be a cause of its absence on drug dealers and pharmacorps shelves. We should celebrate studies of medecines that have a chance to help people without damaging them…

Sounds like DMT can damage them as well. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26166234/

Correlation, not causation:

> Laboratory studies revealed elevated creatinine kinase level indicative of rhabdomyolysis.

Rhabdomyolysis is associated with a range of medications, drugs and toxins.

Many medications increase the risk of rhabdomyolysis.[12] The most important ones are:[4][9][11]

    Statins and fibrates, both used for elevated cholesterol, especially in combination; cerivastatin (Baycol) was withdrawn in 2001 after numerous reports of rhabdomyolysis.[13] Other statins have a small risk of 0.44 cases per 10,000 person-years.[8] Previous chronic kidney disease and hypothyroidism increase the risk of myopathy due to statins. It is also more common in the elderly, those who are severely disabled, and when statins are used in combination with particular other medicines, such as ciclosporin.[13][8]
    Antipsychotic medications may cause neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which can cause severe muscle rigidity with rhabdomyolysis and hyperpyrexia
    Neuromuscular blocking agents used in anesthesia may result in malignant hyperthermia, also associated with rhabdomyolysis
    Medications that cause serotonin syndrome, such as SSRIs
    Medications that interfere with potassium levels, such as diuretics
Poisons linked to rhabdomyolysis are heavy metals and venom from insects or snakes.[4] Hemlock may cause rhabdomyolysis, either directly or after eating quail that have fed on it.[4][11] Fungi such as Russula subnigricans and Tricholoma equestre are known to cause rhabdomyolysis.[14] Haff disease is rhabdomyolysis after consuming fish; a toxic cause is suspected but has not been proven.[15]

Drugs of recreational use, including: alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, ketamine and MDMA (ecstasy)[4][11]

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#15

Post by [deleted] »

reportgunner wrote: post #7
aziaziazi wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many would say the same about friends taking antidepressants as IMA, ISRS, ATC… or others DANGEROUS stuff as opioids. An average 2023 pharma shopping bag is highly dangerous when not used responsibly ! Moreover, DMT does not induce any addiction, which may be a cause of its absence on drug dealers and pharmacorps shelves. We should celebrate studies of medecines that have a chance to help people without damaging them…

Sounds like DMT can damage them as well. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26166234/

[deleted]

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#16

Post by deemster »

neom wrote: post #5
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I love reading the trip reports on Erowid: https://erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_DMT.shtml

I can't post the link because I'm at work but you might be interested in the DMT Nexus forum. Lots of trip reports and treasure trove of information related to DMT/Ayahuasca.

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#17

Post by ycombinete »

neom wrote: post #5
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I love reading the trip reports on Erowid: https://erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_DMT.shtml

Same here. I've read a lot of them. And I haven't read a single one that made me want to try it. My psyche treats any state as permanent, and I think most of these trips would probably drive me insane. Inb4 I need a psychedelic trip to break out of that psychic mold.

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#18

Post by sva_ »

dagorenouf wrote: post #9

I had never done any kind of drugs in my life or psychedelics, but took Ayahuasca once with friends who were in the personal wellness space circa 2010. My experience: - tastes like mud - it’s recommended to vomit after taking it, but I felt too self-conscious because we were all together in the same room - the first part of the trip was wonderful as I spent 2hours in bliss seeing colored lights, I still remember this…

Awesome experience report, but

> it seems the reason it lasted so long is because I couldn’t vomit in the first place, so the “medecine” stayed with me longer

I highly doubt that, it was probably metabolized and out of your system in a few days max. What you describe are classical "afterglow" symptoms.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterglow_(drug_culture)

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#19

Post by atchoo »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #10
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I believe whats happening at a certain level all brains encode an abstract conscious reality-stream in a similar way, and as such distortions to the brain manifest in similar ways for everyone. The fact that DMT entities are so common tells us that the perception of other consciousness's is a primitive attribute in however our world-state is managed by the brain. Flip a few random bits in an image, you get pixels. Fl…

Yep. Sounds similar to the shared phenomena of the "Hat Man" entity that a lot of people suffering from sleep paralysis report.

https://thehatmanproject.com/

I am curious about what humans experiencing sleep paralysis perceived before the invention of the hat.

Re: Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

#20

Post by alfor »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #10
jossclimb wrote: post #2

I am fascinated by this stuff and DMT and part of me would love to try it. It appears most people experience the same entities such as the self-transforming elf machines. I read another transcript where somebody met their intergalactic girlfriend and the absolute bliss of their reunion and how it felt like they have known each other for hundreds of years. A nice short of Terence McKenna discussing the DMT Elves https…

I believe whats happening at a certain level all brains encode an abstract conscious reality-stream in a similar way, and as such distortions to the brain manifest in similar ways for everyone. The fact that DMT entities are so common tells us that the perception of other consciousness's is a primitive attribute in however our world-state is managed by the brain. Flip a few random bits in an image, you get pixels. Fl…

I entertain the idea that spirits are real in a similar sense that our consciousness is real. Spirit is an emergent property of humans. When we are angry and vengeful the "spirit" of war is possessing "us". We are not our former self and lose quite a bit of control. This spirit is eternal, contagious, cross cultures.

Our ancestors put a name and images on something abstract but we discarded it because it didn’t fit our modern materialist viewpoint.

Post reply on HN