Neural correlates of the DMT experience as assessed via multivariate EEG
Christopher Timmermann, Leor Roseman, Michael Schartner, Raphaël Millière, Luke Williams, David Erritzøe, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, Michael Ashton, Adam Bendrioua, Okdeep Kaur, Samuel Turton, Matthew M Nour, Camilla M Day, Robert Leech, David Nutt, Robin Carhart-Harris
bioRxiv July 18, 2019 preprint DOI: 10.1101/706283
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIntravenous DMT, a fast-acting psychedelic, markedly alters human brain activity. Compared with a placebo, DMT reduced oscillatory power in alpha and beta brainwaves and increased spontaneous signal diversity. Time-referenced analyses linked changes in subjective experience to changes in brain activity. Emergence of delta and theta frequency oscillations correlated with the peak of the experience, particularly its eyes-closed visual component. These findings advance understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of immersive states of consciousness.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 13 |
| Population | Healthy adults (6 female, 7 male) |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness DMT |
| Keywords | Psychedelic DMT Administration Brain activity Brain function Brainwave patterns |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key finding | DMT markedly reduced alpha and beta oscillatory power and increased signal diversity, with delta and theta activity correlating with the peak subjective experience. |
Abstract
Abstract Studying transitions in and out of the altered state of consciousness caused by intravenous (IV) N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT – a fast-acting tryptamine psychedelic) offers a safe and powerful means of advancing knowledge on the neurobiology of conscious states. Here we sought to investigate the effects of IV DMT on the power spectrum and signal diversity of human brain activity (6 female, 7 male) recorded via multivariate EEG, and plot relationships between subjective experience, brain activity and drug plasma concentrations across time. Compared with placebo, DMT markedly reduced oscillatory power in the alpha and beta bands and robustly increased spontaneous signal diversity. Time-referenced analyses revealed close relationships between changes in various aspects of subjective experience and changes in brain activity. Importantly, the emergence of oscillatory activity within the delta and theta frequency bands was found to correlate with the peak of the experience, and particularly its eyes-closed visual component. These findings highlight marked changes in oscillatory activity and signal diversity with DMT that parallel broad and specific components of the relevant subjective experience and thus further our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of immersive states of consciousness.