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DMT micro-phenomenology

James W. Sanders, Raphaël Millière, Zachary G. Daily, Robin Carhart-Harris, Christopher Timmermann, Ema Demšar

PsyArXiv December 29, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/2m9d4 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study using micro-phenomenological interviews
Sample size 23
Population Healthy participants who received DMT during fMRI scanning
Intervention DMT
Topics DMT Philosophy of mind
Keywords Psychedelics Consciousness research Altered states
Citations 4
Key findings Immersion and presence phenomena during DMT experience emerge through specific structural dimensions, particularly the layering of sensory effects followed by spatial, self-related, and social effects.

Abstract

DMT reliably induces profound experiences of immersion in other worlds and encounters with seemingly autonomous presences, yet the lived qualities and unfolding of these experiences remain poorly understood. Using micro-phenomenological interviews with twenty-three healthy participants who received DMT during fMRI scanning, this study explores how these experiences arise and develop in awareness. Micro-phenomenological analysis reveals rich dimensions of immersive experience - from multisensory engagement to radical reconfigurations of self and world - and illuminates the varied ways presences can be seen, felt, or otherwise sensed. Rather than focusing on specific content, we follow the micro-phenomenological method to identify the structural features and temporal dynamics that characterise the rich subjective landscape of DMT experience. The findings extend beyond traditional constructs like 'ego dissolution' or 'mystical experience' to reveal how immersion and presence phenomena emerge through specific dimensions, particularly the layering of sensory effects, and subsequent layering of spatial, self-related, and social effects. This detailed phenomenological mapping advances our understanding of both DMT's effects and the architecture of conscious experience, while demonstrating the value of systematic first-person methods for studying profound alterations of consciousness. The findings invite comparative analysis with other transformations of consciousness, such as meditation and lucid dreaming, and especially with presence phenomena observed across different experiential contexts such as lab-induced presence hallucinations, and Parkinson’s disease.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on DMT, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Making "bad trips" good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences. Norwegian users of psychedelics 2021 Qualitative study n = 50
Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine (N, N-DMT) experience. Naturalistic inhaled N,N-DMT experiences posted to the r/DMT Reddit community 2022 Qualitative analysis n = 3,778
An encounter with the self: A thematic and content analysis of the DMT experience from a naturalistic field study. Screened, healthy, anonymized, experienced DMT users (mostly Caucasian, 83% men, mean... 2023 Naturalistic field study with qualitative thematic and content analysis n = 36
The content of complex psychedelic experiences resulting from inhalation of N,N-dimethyltryptamine People who smoked N,N-dimethyltryptamine and posted narrative accounts online 2023 Qualitative study
An encounter with death: a comparative thematic and content analysis of naturalistic DMT experiences and the near-death experience. Participants in a naturalistic field study of DMT (36 interviews) and individuals with... 2025 Thematic and content analysis of qualitative interviews and written narratives n = 70

Citations in the library

Cited by 3

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Explore topics

DMT Philosophy of mind Altered states of consciousness Dreaming Ego dissolution Lucid dreaming Meditation Mystical experience Mysticism