In recent decades usage of the psychedelic substance N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) has grown considerably, and its intriguing effects have even been the subject of a study by Dr. Rick Strassman. In his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule, Strassman recounted many of the strange ‘entity encounters’ experienced by participants in his scientific trial, but noted that it was difficult for the experiences to be studied in depth due to the speed of the ‘trip’ (sometimes described as being ‘shot out of a cannon’ into a parallel universe before being quickly pulled back into reality).
Strassman’s interest in the topic has not waned over the years, and in a new paper – co-authored with Andrew Gallimore – he has suggested a new method of delivering DMT that might sustain the experience for a longer period – effectively immersing study participants in the DMT realm, in much the same way that the application of general anaesthesia keeps medical patients immersed in unconsciousness.
“[DMT] users consistently report the complete replacement of normal subjective experience with a novel ‘alternate universe,’ often densely populated with a variety of strange objects and other highly complex visual content, including what appear to be sentient ‘beings’,” Strassman and Gallimore note. “The phenomenology of the DMT state is of great interest to psychology and calls for rigorous academic enquiry”:
The extremely short duration of DMT effects—less than 20 minutes—militates against single dose administration as the ideal model for such enquiry. Using pharmacokinetic modelling and DMT blood sampling data, we demonstrate that the unique pharmacological characteristics of DMT, which also include a rapid onset and lack of acute tolerance to its subjective effects, make it amenable to administration by target-controlled intravenous infusion. This is a technology developed to maintain a stable brain concentration of anaesthetic drugs during surgery. Simulations of our model demonstrate that this approach will allow research subjects to be induced into a stable and prolonged DMT experience, making it possible to carefully observe its psychological contents, and provide more extensive accounts for subsequent analyses.
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