What happened to our brain when we were taking LSD?

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Translator | Sun Wenwen

After people took hallucinogenic drugs, they saw no wonder. Some people reported that they saw “extraterrestrials” or “confirmation of reality”. Some people indulged in excitement and could not extricate themselves. Others said that hallucinations are extremely terrible and they would not even try again. Twice. The Imperial College of London wanted to reveal the mysteries behind all this by means of scientific research.

DMT full name "N, N-Dimethyltryptamine" (dimethyl tryptamine), is a kind of hallucinogenic hallucinogens, people lose their ability to act after taking, and accompanied by a series of vivid hallucinations. In addition to visual kaleidoscopes that ordinary people can still imagine, DMT's ability to see rumors of "reality" and "alien" increases its mystery. According to Terence McKenna, an American writer and pioneer in psychedelic medicine, people can see such "absurd basketball flying" after using drugs, as well as incredible content such as "machine genie".

(McKenna is an Irish-American and has multiple identities as a writer, an educator, and a mystic.)

(After the Second World War, the United States became the golden age of music, art, and culture. Thousands of hippies took to the streets. They used ecstasy, slovenly, and at the same time proclaimed love and peace. They were determined anti-war activists. The youth throbbed around in 1968.)

(Apple’s late founder, Jobs, publicly stated that the use of ecstasy was one of the most important experiences in his life. Jobs in his youth once went to India on a pilgrimage and his interest in Zen remained for life.)

Instead of referring to McKenna as a real scientist, he is more like a wandering psychedelic poet, who in the 1970s promoted the popularity of ecstasy in the United States and even the world. McKenna believes that the "reality" experienced by people after drug use is evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life. It also claims that they can use DMT for cross-dimensional travel.

"These ideas are amazing and fascinating," said Robin Carhart-Harris, head of psychedelic research at Imperial College London. "But you also understand that these words may be nonsense."

The main task of the research team led by Karhart-Harris is to capture the so-called "machine wizard."

Two years ago researchers conducted an MRI scan of the brains of volunteers who ingested LSD. The same type of experiment was the first in the world for fashion. The results of the last experiment are still in the process of finishing. At present, the research team at the Royal College of London intends to conduct similar experiments on DMT. This time, researchers targeted the "psychic molecules" pseudoscience.

"The so-called 'machine wizards' may be attractive or confusing to some people. This is an opportunity for us to study," said Chris Timmermann, who is involved in the study. But Karhat-Harris also said that he could not break all superstitions in one fell swoop.

In the first experiments, 12 volunteers had undergone an electroencephalogram (EEG) examination after ingestion of DMT. Several weeks later, researchers will perform the first functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan of DMT ingestors and it is expected that follow-up studies will continue for at least 6 months.

The purpose of the scan is to record the state of brain activity when hallucinations occur. Karhart-Harris and Timman hope to explain various fantastic illusions from a scientific perspective.

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DMT-the spirit molecule (Source: Netease Technology Channel)

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("DMT: Spirituals" is a controversial documentary)

“Perhaps (see confirmation phase) means that throughout our lives—especially in the early stages of our lives—we are all surrounded by reality and we are surrounded by reality like a crowd. We just ignore it.” Karhart Harris said that he has a research background in the field of psychoanalysis and spiritual dynamics.

Karhart-Harris hopes to find connections between brain activity on the basis of Xuhui's "seeing reality" and ordinary "meeting someone".

"We hypothesize that the experience of witnessing the reality is based on brain activity. If that is the case, why don't we start with neural activity under non-drug effects and figure out where the sensitive areas of the brain are."

Researchers will also pay close attention to the transcendence experienced by DMT. The experimenters asked volunteers to assess the intensity of their experience and hope to capture their moments of departure to the different world. "Feelings into another world" is the most typical feature of psychedelic experience.

The experiment is the latest study in the neuropsychopharmacology department of the Imperial College in London. Kahart Harris and Timmman jointly designed the experiment and Timman was responsible for the implementation.

(Ecstasy drugs produce a bizarre sensory experience through the action of chemical substances on the human brain. Religious practitioners can achieve mundane and refined experiences through meditation, hunger strikes, etc. In addition, there are also religious figures who use mysterious drugs to communicate with the world. Records, of course, are all nonsense in scientific materialism.)

Due to the successful study of LSD and Psilocybin, the team has sufficient experience in conducting safety studies of LSD. Karhart-Harris stated that obtaining a research permit was quite successful and the review by the Ethics Committee was easily passed.

“They are really enthusiastic about us. Even some people in the expert group have bright eyes and want to participate in the research,” said Karhart-Harris. Unfortunately, the unknown expert eventually failed to participate in the experiment.

To ensure that the experiment was correct, the team also invited a godfather of DMT research: Rick Strassman, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, came to help out.

Strassmann gives advice on dosages and ways of ingestion. Strassmann conducted hundreds of doses of drug trials on volunteers between 1990 and 1995. According to various fantasy experiences reported by participants, Strassmann gave DMT the “spirit molecule”. This was later widely known as the title.

Karhat-Harris does not like to describe the DMT experience in non-worldly, unscientific terms.

"It's easy to hear a lot of pseudo-scientific descriptions, and the 'psychic' is one of them." Karhart Harris said that many researchers dare not deal with this area, fearing that reputation has been damaged and that people are considered to be indecent scientists.

Timman believes that it is best to understand DMT as "a tool for understanding consciousness."

“It is difficult to find other tools that can change consciousness, and the effect is so significant and reliable,” says Karhart-Harris.

The researchers set the dose to 20 mg. Intravenous injection can provide more pronounced efficacy than smoking. Timman said 20mg was calculated as a high dose.

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Uncovering the veil of "psychic magic" (Source: Netease Technology Channel)

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(Karhat-Harris speaks at TED.)

Participants were closed eyes with a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with an instrument recording his brain activity. The entire experiment takes 20-30 minutes (ie, the duration of the DMT Illusion journey) during which the experimenter requests the participants to assess their illusion intensity every two minutes.

"We mainly observe spontaneous brain activity, also known as resting state," said Karhart-Harris. Just as the seemingly contradictory between the two names implies, the resting state will also have spontaneous brain activity. Under DMT, the subjects can experience the bizarre and fantastic scenery.

"In this state, people cannot perform tasks or interact with the outside world," Timman said.

After this, the researchers recorded the participants' pharmacological experience and analyzed in detail how the illusions have subsided over time. The whole process looks like a peer review of the travel report.

In previous experiments, 12 participants had completed the EEG scan process. Next, there will be another 20 people undergoing electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Researchers have no intention of answering questions about why DMT exists in nature, and DMT enthusiasts are more interested in such issues. Scientists are curious about why humans have DMT specific receptors.

“As far as we know, this is a special kind of serotonin receptor, and it is also the key to DMT's ability to work on the human brain. This is a huge question that has not been explained by science. Why do these receptors exist? What's the effect?"

The answer to this question may provide clues to the hallucinogenic mechanism of LSD. Previous studies have shown that LSD can be used to treat addiction or compulsive sex.

(The primitive tribes in the Amazon Valley have traditional practices of making and drinking a kind of herbal medicine known as "Death Water", in which the key ingredient is DMT. The mysterious dead vine water is made by mixing two kinds of plants in the Amazon River basin and is taken after cooking. The locals communicated with the gods through the hallucinogenic effect of the dead rattan water.)

Timman called DMT to find clinical application is not the main purpose of the study, the subjects were completely healthy people, it is difficult to do pathological experiments in healthy people.

However, the preliminary results of the preliminary experiments show that DMT has the effect of improving mood. The subject's depression score decreased significantly after taking the drug.

Just like the scientists who emerged in this era of “Ecstasy Rejuvenation”, the team at Imperial College London envisioned the possibility that one day, hallucinogens would be used as clinical agents. "In many ways, this is the ultimate goal," says Karhart-Harris. The experiment was funded by the Beckley Foundation. The Berkeley Foundation was founded by Amanda Feilding in 1998 to clarify the stigma of hallucinogenic drugs and make them legal drugs.

"People will realize that developing this drug is quite expensive," he said. "Because this treatment model requires some psychological preparation, there are also ward and care time requirements."

The advantage of DMT is that its efficacy is short. DMT with a potency of less than one hour can be used as a supplement to Pseleodin, which lasts for several hours.

Without proper guidance and discipline, scientific research may also lead to the abuse of ecstasy. "To do it in the right way, and to make appropriate warnings and safeguards at the same time, can bring revolution to psychiatry," said Karhart-Harris.

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