7 papers in the library · 146 citations · publishing 2021-2026
ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science May 4, 2021 James W. Sanders, Josjan Zijlmans 94 citations
The mysticism framework, often used to characterize psychedelic experiences and explain therapeutic outcomes, carries risks because it is tied to supernatural or nonempirical belief systems. The authors encourage researchers to adopt a demystified model of the psychedelic state to mitigate these risks.
Nature Medicine June 3, 2025 Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Kyle T. Greenway, Leor Roseman et al. 26 citations
A Delphi consensus study with 89 experts from 17 countries identified 30 extra-pharmacological variables that are important or very important for reporting the setting in psychedelic clinical trials. These variables, forming the ReSPCT guidelines, cover physical environment, dosing session procedure, therapeutic framework and protocol, and subjective experiences. The findings reveal significant ambiguities in current conceptualizations of set and setting. The guidelines provide a new standard for designing and documenting contextual factors in psychedelic research.
Neuroscience of Consciousness January 1, 2025 Christopher Timmermann, James W. Sanders, David Reydellet et al. 19 citations
The psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT can, in its most extreme cases, produce a complete absence of self-experience and other perceptual content while preserving a quality of aroused, waking awareness. In an exploratory observational study in naturalistic ceremonial settings, micro-phenomenological interviews, questionnaires, and EEG recordings revealed a dynamic progression of effects, including variable disruptions of bodily and narrative self, reduced phenomenal distinctions, and visual imagery. EEG showed global alpha and posterior beta power reductions, suggesting inhibition of top-down brain models. The findings indicate 5-MeO-DMT's potential as a pharmacological model for deconstructed consciousness, though retrospective questionnaires have limitations.
PsyArXiv May 14, 2025 James W. Sanders, Raphaël Millière, Ema Demšar et al. 4 citations preprint
Under DMT, immersive experiences and perceived presences follow a consistent structural pattern: bodily sensations arise first, then visual and auditory elements, and only after multisensory integration and 3D spatial characteristics develop do perceived sentient presences emerge. Micro-phenomenological interviews with 23 participants who received intravenous DMT (20mg) during fMRI-EEG recordings identified 125 phenomenological categories structuring immersion, including modal sensory dimensions, amodal feelings, self/world configurations, and social engagement modes. Perceived presences varied in sensory manifestation, semantic complexity, and social interaction modes. The findings advance understanding of non-ordinary states of consciousness and support future neurophenomenological research.
PsyArXiv December 29, 2024 James W. Sanders, Raphaël Millière, Zachary G. Daily et al. 3 citations preprint
DMT reliably produces profound experiences of immersion in other worlds and encounters with seemingly autonomous presences, but the lived qualities and unfolding of these experiences remain poorly understood. Micro-phenomenological interviews with twenty-three healthy participants who received DMT during fMRI scanning revealed rich dimensions of immersive experience—from multisensory engagement to radical reconfigurations of self and world—and illuminated varied ways presences can be seen, felt, or otherwise sensed. The analysis identified structural features and temporal dynamics, particularly the layering of sensory effects followed by spatial, self-related, and social effects, extending beyond traditional constructs like ego dissolution or mystical experience. This mapping advances understanding of DMT's effects and conscious experience, inviting comparisons with meditation, lucid dreaming, and presence phenomena in lab-induced hallucinations or Parkinson's disease.
PsyArXiv September 30, 2025 Christopher Timmermann, Tommaso Barba, James W. Sanders et al. preprint
In an advanced meditator and Lama from the Mahāmudrā tradition, nondual meditation and a low dose (5 mg) of 5-MeO-DMT both produced timelessness, reduced labeling of sensory content, and diminished narrative self and thoughts. Both states showed increased alpha power and decreased gamma power in the brain, with neural overlap driven by posterior and right frontal gamma reductions. Nondual meditation uniquely emphasized recognition of nonduality and clarity of mind, while low-dose 5-MeO-DMT was characterized by visual imagery. High-dose (12 mg) 5-MeO-DMT produced sensory disconnection, seeing a 'white-light', and broad increases in gamma power. The findings suggest two distinct routes to self-dissolution: a 'saturation' route with increased neural firing and entropy (high-dose 5-MeO) and a 'subtractive' route with reduced firing and entropy (nondual meditation and low-dose 5-MeO).
Neuroscience of Consciousness January 1, 2026 James W. Sanders, Raphaël Millière, Ema Demšar et al.
The psychedelic compound DMT induces highly immersive experiences that often include encounters with seemingly sentient presences. Using micro-phenomenology, immersion under DMT was characterized as a structured continuum from subtle to gross forms. Twenty-three participants received 20 mg intravenous DMT during fMRI-EEG, followed by detailed interviews. Analysis yielded 125 phenomenological categories describing structural dimensions like sensory faculties, spatial organization, and self-world configuration. Bodily effects typically preceded visual and auditory ones, and perceived presences emerged only after multisensory integration and 3D spatial characteristics had developed, illustrating a hierarchical relationship between subtle and gross immersion. Perceived presences varied widely in sensory modality, semantic complexity, and relational mode, showing immersion as a dynamic, constructive process.