Ibogaine, a psychedelic alkaloid with anti-addictive properties, produces a waking state that shares brain-wave traits with REM sleep. In rats, ibogaine increased gamma oscillation power in the brain but made those oscillations less coherent and less complex than normal waking levels. This pattern mirrors REM sleep features within the gamma frequency band, providing biological evidence for the long-standing hypothesis that ibogaine induces a dream-like state while awake—a phenomenon called oneirogenesis. The findings offer an empirical basis for understanding how ibogaine's unique subjective effects may contribute to its anti-addictive potential.
The psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT increases delta power and decreases theta power in the hippocampus of freely moving rats, effects not explained by changes in locomotion. It also dose-dependently reduces slow and mid gamma power and theta phase modulation. The overall spectral profile of awake behavior after 5-MeO-DMT resembles electrophysiological states seen during slow-wave sleep and REM sleep. These findings suggest that classical psychedelics may integrate waking behaviors with sleep-like neural activity patterns.