Dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, not to be confused with 5-MeO-DMT, is a hallucinogenic tryptamine, similar in structure to the neurotransmitter serotonin. DMT is created in small amounts by the human body during normal metabolism.
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Induced DMT experiences can include profound time-dilation, visual and audio hallucinations, percieved journeys to paranormal realms, and encounters with spiritual beings or other experiences that, by most first hand accounts, defy verbal or visual description.
In a 1988 study conducted at UNM, psychiatrist Rick Strassman found that approximately 20% of volunteers injected with high doses of DMT had experiences identical to purported alien abductions.
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Speculations
Several speculative and as yet untested hypotheses suggest that endogenous DMT, produced in the human brain, is involved in certain psychological and neurological states. As DMT is naturally produced in small amounts in humans and other mammals[1] (although the mechanism is not yet understood), some believe it plays a role in dreaming, near-death experiences and other mystical states. It has been speculated by the researcher Jace Callaway that DMT might be connected with visual dreaming. It is also speculated that DMT can be found in elevated amounts during times of visual dreaming or after near-death experiences.
Writers on DMT include Terence McKenna and Jeremy Narby, though scientists who study psychedelic drugs treat their writings with skepticism. McKenna writes of his experiences with DMT in which he encounters entities he describes as "Self-Transforming Machine Elves". Other users report visitation from external intelligences attempting to impart information. These Machine Elf experiences are said to be shared by many DMT users. From a researcher's perspective, perhaps best known is Rick Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule (ISBN 0892819278); Strassman also proposed that DMT is made in the pineal gland, although this is only speculation.
