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

Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG

nature.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 206 posts

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

#61

Post by ThJ »

ThJ wrote: post #56
phaedrus wrote: post #43

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.

Oh, um, that’s interesting. I have found I can make myself dream while awake in a way... I use relaxation techniques on myself all day and it’s actually a bit frightening what you can make your own brain do... What happened to me is I became more openminded, more fluent in my writing, more daring in my choices, and actually also more socially aware... I can only compare it to eating the forbidden fruit of the garden…

People tell you to “focus” and it’s very funny because I think much clearer than them by NOT focusing. My brain isn’t so much focused on one thing as it’s focused on everything at once. Intuition works very fast so if you give it a few data points it will triangulate them almost instantaneously.

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

#62

Post by andrew_ »

peterwwillis wrote: post #46
noodle_face_ wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried explaining this to people who've never tried psychedelics. It is unlike any other substance I've ever tried (a lot of them, FWIW) in that it leaves you with lasting impressions. Some things I gleaned tripping have stuck with me to this day. It has changed me for the better.

> It has changed me for the better. Is that the old you saying that, or the new you?

That's very meta. And an excellent philosophical question!

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

#63

Post by empath75 »

jasonxxx wrote: post #4

Interestingly enough, they learned that increased neural signal diversity resulted, and when someone was "peaking" on DMT the brain was also lit up significantly. This is akin to the research found in dreams and R.E.M. but it's still rather inconclusive as to whether or not inducing such activity in the mind results in the associated conscious experience. Many materialists believe this to be the case, but this does n…

It seems difficult to say the least to maintain a non materialist point of view in the face of all the evidence that chemicals alter mental state.

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

#64

Post by [deleted] »

sixQuarks wrote: post #24
undefined3840 wrote: post #22

I really want to try DMT but terrified to do that without professional help nearby e.g. on an Ayahuasca retreat. I have experienced both LSD and shrooms but have heard DMT is on another level.

I don't see how DMT can be on another level. LSD is already in another dimension. How much more freaky can it get?

[deleted]

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

#65

Post by snarfy »

_arvin wrote: post #49
FailMore wrote: post #10

> 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

You only have to quit for a few days and the dreams will come back. After a week and you'll have some nights that are almost entirely dreaming.

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

#66

Post by pavas »

ThJ wrote: post #56
phaedrus wrote: post #43

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.

Oh, um, that’s interesting. I have found I can make myself dream while awake in a way... I use relaxation techniques on myself all day and it’s actually a bit frightening what you can make your own brain do... What happened to me is I became more openminded, more fluent in my writing, more daring in my choices, and actually also more socially aware... I can only compare it to eating the forbidden fruit of the garden…

This sounds like mania. Be careful.

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

#67

Post by saganus »

riversflow wrote: post #40
sixQuarks wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how DMT can be on another level. LSD is already in another dimension. How much more freaky can it get?

For me: LSD is like the walls of reality melting before your own eyes. Mushrooms is like you mind melted with a wild animal. DMT is like your consciousness melts with your imagination.

That's an interesting take.

I wonder if other people would agree with that description, but it sounds almost palpable.

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

#68

Post by TimTheTinker »

alexanderthe- wrote: post #33
rolltiide wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so did Plato and Aristotle, so why the "but"

What is the difference between luminiferous aether and the electro-magnetic field? Edit: Context

The aether was assumed to be a medium through which electromagnetic waves propagate - like sound through air, or waves through liquids and solids.

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

#69

Post by EL_Loco »

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, consciousness expanding trips etc, yet I could never figure out any change they had that I or different friends achieved through literature, art, music, philosophy, or plain just growing older and trying to become smarter or a better person. The funniest thing is, the guy who was most outspoken about his transformation, about feeling 'the wisdom of the plant spirits', and how all this here was 'a dream reality', after a few years became a cop. Another friend is today a wealthy corporate lawyer. I know I might get a lot of downvotes, but knowing all these people who took ayahuasca became actually a strong argument for a materialistic view of the whole thing. You drink it, you hallucinate, it gives you the lasting, powerful impression that it was more real than this "other" reality.

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

#70

Post by dkersten »

foolfoolz wrote: post #31
undefined3840 wrote: post #22

I really want to try DMT but terrified to do that without professional help nearby e.g. on an Ayahuasca retreat. I have experienced both LSD and shrooms but have heard DMT is on another level.

DMT is far less risky than LSD and Shrooms. It lasts 10-15 minutes and you are mostly in awe of what you experience. Lsd/shrooms give you hours to self reflect in good or bad spots and entangle your thoughts in good or bad spots... i’d say DMT is far easier to experience than a full on acid trip

While DMT is typically only 10-15 minutes, it can certainly feel like hours, days or longer, so I'm not sure if the end result is really much difference in the sense of how long you are tripping should it go bad.
Post reply on HN