DMT and the Possible Afterlife

Disclaimer: This is a topic based on conjecture supported by experiments on rats and rabbits, and presence of INMT mRNA (indolethylamine-N-methyltransferase) in the pineal gland of rats, rabbits, and humans which is needed as a catalyst for the biosynthesis of DMT. It is not supported by strong facts due to ethical issues with human experimentation.

Conjecture Definition: In mathematics, a conjecture is a conclusion or a proposition which is suspected to be true due to preliminary supporting evidence, but for which no proof or disproof has yet been found.

DMT and the Possible Afterlife

“In other words, what DMT does can’t be downloaded into as low-dimensional a language as English,” Terrence McKenna.

What is DMT?

Dimethyltryptamine is an N-methylated indoleamine derivative, a serotonergic hallucinogen found in several plants, especially Prestonia amazonica (Apocynaceae) and in mammalian brain, blood, and urine. 

DMT is the most powerful psychoactive substance with effects such as a stretching of time where 5 minutes can seem like an eternity or lifetime. 

If DMT is smoked, injected, or orally ingested with an MAOI (Monoamine oxidase inhibitor) basically how and why Ayahuasca can be taken orally, it can produce powerful entheogenic  experiences, a psychoactive substance that induces alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior for the purposes of engendering spiritual development in sacred contexts, including intense visual hallucinations, euphoria, even true hallucinations (perceived extensions of reality).

The Rat Tests Circa 2013 Dr Jimo Borjigin 

Started in 2013 and Last Scientific Report Published on June 27, 2019

“As I worked on our first DMT paper (Barker et al., 2013) and the first paper on the dying brain (Borjigin et al., 2013), I thought DMT may be one of the neurochemicals associated with near-death experiences. Thus, my interests in DMT were strengthened since 2013.” In 2013, Borjigin and her colleagues collected a sample that was analyzed for — and confirmed — the presence of DMT using a process in which microdialysis tubing was inserted into a rat brain through the pineal gland.

In their latest study, the researchers used a process called in situ hybridization, which uses a labeled complementary strand of DNA to localize a specific RNA sequence in a tissue section.

“With this technique, we found brain neurons with the two enzymes required to make DMT,” Borjigin said. But even when the pineal gland was removed, the brain appeared to be able to produce DMT in several regions, including the neocortex and hippocampus.

“DMT is produced naturally from neurons of the mammalian brain and may contribute to some aspects of higher-order brain functions (such as conscious information processing, or learning/memory, etc), though much remains to be explored experimentally,” Borjigin said.

The researchers also found that levels of DMT increased in the rat brains after inducing cardiac arrest. But they still have much to learn about the substance.

Dr. Rick Strassman Approach

Interestingly, based on his extensive research and observations, Dr. Strassman hypothesizes that when a person is approaching death or possibly even just in a dream state, the body releases relatively large amounts of DMT.

In his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, he writes that DMT “exists in all of our bodies and occurs throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. It is a part of the normal makeup of humans and other mammals; marine animals; grasses and peas; toads and frogs; mushrooms and molds; and barks, flowers, and roots.”

He continues, “Twenty-five years ago, Japanese scientists discovered that the brain actively transports DMT across the blood-brain barrier into its tissues. I know of no other psychedelic drug that the brain treats with such eagerness. This is a startling fact that we should keep in mind when we recall how readily biological psychiatrists dismissed a vital role for DMT in our lives. If DMT were only an insignificant, irrelevant by-product of our metabolism, why does the brain go out of its way to draw it into its confines?”

For comparison, if a water glass of DMT evokes a dream then in death a river-like amount is released. Then this could mean that the few minutes where your brain still functions after death will be a huge DMT trip where whatever you believe would happen after death will happen where every religion is right at the end.

PS. The subject is way longer than this, but had to try to condense it into a few minutes of reading. Feel free to post any questions and I will gladly answer to be best of my capabilities.

References

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/N_N-Dimethyltryptamine

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45812-w

https://www.rickstrassman.com/publications/the-spirit-molecule/

https://www.jonbarron.org/article/brain-functions-even-after-death

Author: Lorenzo Chen