Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
September 3, 2026
Katelijne V Van der Heijden, Gabriel E Jacobs, Ellen H James et al.
Serotonergic psychedelics, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), have shown therapeutic potential in various psychiatric disorders. However, DMT demonstrates pharmacokinetic (PK) variability and a short half-life. This exploratory study investigated the PK, pharmacodynamic (PD), and safety profile of CYB004, a deuterated DMT analogue, following intravenous administration in healthy volunteers....
Journal of Psychopharmacology
August 31, 2026
Katelijne V. van der Heijden, Soma Makai‐bölöni, Amir Inamdar et al.
BACKGROUND: -dimethyltryptamine (DMT) might have therapeutic effects in various psychiatric disorders. AIMS: Prior to exploring this clinical potential, it is essential to determine an optimal administration regimen for DMT, explore the relationship between its pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics and identify potential sources of pharmacokinetic variability. METHODS: Therefore, DMT was...
August 28, 2026
Holly Hepburn
Renewed clinical interest in psychedelics has drawn attention to their challenging effects, yet most phenomenological and psychometric work derives from psilocybin, leaving cross-substance variation underexplored. This thesis employed codebook thematic analysis to examine challenging experiences across DMT, psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine, utilising 146 naturalistic accounts collected from...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 27, 2026
Chloe L. West, Bradley Baker, Annabel Duran et al.
preprint
Abstract Background Serotonergic psychedelics show promise for treating psychiatric disorders, with symptom improvements lasting for weeks after a single dose. Clarifying the neural basis of these effects would benefit from an identification of empirical biomarkers of such lasting shifts in brain function. Resting state EEG offers a rapid (<5 minute), low-cost window into functional brain...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
August 23, 2026
Benjamin Pham
This paper examines dimethyltryptamine (DMT) as one of the most unusual and scientifically provocative psychoactive substances ever studied. It traces DMT’s history from Indigenous Amazonian ayahuasca traditions and Richard Spruce’s nineteenth-century observations to twentieth-century psychedelic science, countercultural fascination, prohibition, and the modern revival of clinical research. The...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 12, 2026
Orr Shahar, Alexander Botvinnik, Masha Chaykin et al.
preprint
Abstract N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) are structurally related tryptamine psychedelics with emerging therapeutic potential, yet their comparative acute pharmacology and longer-term neuroplastic effects remain incompletely defined. Here we show that DMT produces a bell-shaped dose–response curve in the mouse head-twitch response (HTR) assay,...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 11, 2026
István Pesti, Ágnes Bessenyei, Rita Frank et al.
preprint
ABSTRACT N,N -dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous psychedelic tryptamine that has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic candidate for acute ischemic stroke. Although DMT consistently reduces infarct size, attenuates neuroinflammation, and improves functional outcome in experimental stroke, the cellular and receptor mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood....
Addiction
August 3, 2026
Mathieu Seynaeve, Fiona Dunbar, Anna O. Ermakova et al.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study qualitatively explored psychological change processes as described by participants and therapists within a phase 2a clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of a single dose of intranasal 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT; BPL-003) administered alongside psychological support and manualised cognitive behavioural...
Molecular Brain
July 24, 2026
Rafael V. Lima da Cruz, Richardson N. Leão, Thiago C. Moulin
Abstract Adult dentate gyrus neurogenesis and cell proliferation are regulated by multiple physiological inputs, including experience-dependent signals that have been linked to the DNA glycosylase NEIL3. Whether NEIL3 also gates psychedelic-induced proliferation is unknown. Here we tested the effect of a single dose of 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), a serotonergic agonist with...
Scientific Reports
July 22, 2026
Abdulrahman Sumayli, Saad M. Alshahrani, Jawaher Abdullah Alamoudi
Abstract Given the psychoactive effects of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), classified as a Schedule I drug, developing diagnostic methods is essential. In this computational study, we investigate the adsorption and sensing behavior of DMT on pristine C 20 fullerene and its beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) doped derivatives using density functional theory (DFT), time-dependent DFT...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
March 28, 2023
Christopher Timmermann, Leor Roseman, Sharad Haridas et al.
217 citations
Psychedelics have attracted medical interest, but their effects on human brain function are incompletely understood. In a comprehensive, within-subjects, placebo-controlled design, we acquired multimodal neuroimaging [i.e., EEG-fMRI (electroencephalography-functional MRI)] data to assess the effects of intravenous (IV) N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on brain function in 20 healthy volunteers....
Neuropharmacology
May 1, 2020
Adam L. Halberstadt, Muhammad Chatha, Adam K. Klein et al.
274 citations
Serotonergic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) induce head twitches in rodents via 5-HT2A receptor activation. The goal of the present investigation was to determine whether a correlation exists between the potency of hallucinogens in the mouse head-twitch response (HTR) paradigm and their reported potencies in other species, specifically rats and humans. Dose-response...
Sci Rep
November 19, 2019
Christopher Timmermann, Leor Roseman, Michael Schartner et al.
325 citations
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...
PLoS One
April 23, 2019
Roland R. Griffiths, Ethan Hurwitz, Alan K. Davis et al.
249 citations
Naturally occurring and psychedelic drug-occasioned experiences interpreted as personal encounters with God are well described but have not been systematically compared. In this study, five groups of individuals participated in an online survey with detailed questions characterizing the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes attributed to their single most memorable God...
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
April 13, 2019
Malin V. Uthaug, R. Lancelotta, Kim van Oorsouw et al.
198 citations
A single inhalation of vapor from dried toad secretion containing 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) in a naturalistic setting is related to sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life, mindfulness-related capacities, and a decrement of psychopathological symptoms.
Frontiers in Psychology
August 15, 2018
Christopher Timmermann, Leor Roseman, L. Williams et al.
228 citations
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are complex subjective experiences, which have been previously associated with the psychedelic experience and more specifically with the experience induced by the potent serotonergic, N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Potential similarities between both subjective states have been noted previously, including the subjective feeling of transcending one's body and...
Frontiers in Neuroscience
August 6, 2018
Steven A. Barker
174 citations
This report provides a historical overview of research concerning the endogenous hallucinogen N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), focusing on data regarding its biosynthesis and metabolism in the brain and peripheral tissues, methods and results for DMT detection in body fluids and brain, new sites of action for DMT, and new data regarding its possible physiological and therapeutic roles. Research...
Brain Research Bulletin
April 30, 2016
Theresa M. Carbonaro, Michael B. Gatch
258 citations
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an indole alkaloid widely found in plants and animals. It is best known for producing brief and intense psychedelic effects when ingested. Increasing evidence suggests that endogenous DMT plays important roles for a number of processes in the periphery and central nervous system, and may act as a neurotransmitter. This paper reviews the current literature of both...
PLoS One
2014
Attila Szabo, Attila Kovács, Ede Frecska et al.
191 citations
The orphan receptor sigma-1 (sigmar-1) is a transmembrane chaperone protein expressed in both the central nervous system and in immune cells. It has been shown to regulate neuronal differentiation and cell survival, and mediates anti-inflammatory responses and immunosuppression in murine in vivo models. Since the details of these findings have not been elucidated so far, we studied the effects...
Science
February 13, 2009
Dominique Fontanilla, Molly Johannessen, Abdol R. Hajipour et al.
528 citations
The sigma-1 receptor is widely distributed in the central nervous system and periphery. Originally mischaracterized as an opioid receptor, the sigma-1 receptor binds a vast number of synthetic compounds but does not bind opioid peptides; it is currently considered an orphan receptor. The sigma-1 receptor pharmacophore includes an alkylamine core, also found in the endogenous compound...
Addiction
December 20, 2006
Robert S. Gable
240 citations
ABSTRACT Aim To extend previous reviews by assessing the acute systemic toxicity and psychological hazards of a dimethyltryptamine and β‐carboline brew (ayahuasca/hoasca) used in religious ceremonies. Method A systematic literature search, supplemented by interviews with ceremony participants. Results No laboratory animal models were located that tested the acute toxicity or the abuse potential...
Pharmacopsychiatry
November 1, 2005
Euphrosyne Gouzoulis‐mayfrank, Karsten Heekeren, Anna Neukirch et al.
198 citations
INTRODUCTION: Pharmacological challenges with hallucinogens are used as models for psychosis in experimental research. The state induced by glutamate antagonists such as phencyclidine (PCP) is often considered as a more appropriate model of psychosis than the state induced by serotonergic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)....
Behavioural Brain Research
December 1, 1995
Rick J. Strassman
257 citations
We generated dose-response data for the endogenous and ultra-short-acting hallucinogen, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), in a cohort of experienced hallucinogen users, measuring multiple biological and psychological outcome measures. Subjective responses were quantified with a new rating scale, the HRS, which provided better resolution of dose effects than did the biological variables. A tolerance...
Archives of General Psychiatry
February 1, 1994
Ruck J. Strassman
454 citations
BACKGROUND: Validation of animal models of hallucinogenic drugs' subjective effects requires human data. Previous human studies used varied groups of subjects and assessment methods. Rating scales for hallucinogen effects emphasized psychodynamic principles or the drugs' dysphoric properties. We describe the subjective effects of graded doses of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an endogenous...