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DMT, or Dimethyltryptamine, is often regarded as amongst, if not the, most intense psychedelic experiences one can go through; it’s zero to hyperspace in 15secs, and back to baseline within a few minutes.

Questions about the nature of the DMT experience, and that of all psychedelics, naturally guide us to wonder “what is this chemical doing to catalyze such an experience?“. Our guest for this episode, Christopher Timmermann is someone asking exactly that question, and he’s got the research funding to use a bunch of huge machines to figure it out.

Christopher Timmermann is the cognitive neuroscientist leading a project at Imperial College London focusing on the effects of DMT in the brain and human consciousness. He is interested in the use of methods bridging the relationship between the phenomenology evoked by the psychedelic experience and changes in brain activity using diverse neuroimaging tools.

We have him on the show to ask him some nerdy questions about his research on DMT, psychedelic research in general, and the relationship between neural activity and altered consciousness.

Enjoy!

Episode Breakdown

What is DMT and why Chris is researching it.
The most common and baffling reports on the DMT experience.
The value of psychedelic research for understanding consciousness and the brain
The research that has been done on DMT in the brain. What do we know already and what’s next?
The relationship between psychedelics and the ‘default mode network’ and its impact on our sense of self.
Using light/sound frequencies and brain entrainment to produce DMT experiences.
Does DMT have an inherent positive effect on the brain? Could it become a clinical medicine?
All about that machine that provides a continuous DMT infusion, keeping a person under for 20mins or more.
Is there DMT naturally occurring in our bodies and, if so, what is its role?
The neural relationship between brain function, psychedelics, death and consciousness in general.
Psychedelic therapy is coming; what impact people regularly experience DMT or psilocybin have on society?