Endogenous DMT and Mystical States: When the Body Produces Its Own Spirit Molecule

Language: en

The Most Forbidden Question in Neuroscience

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine — DMT — is the most powerful psychedelic compound known to science. When administered intravenously, it produces within seconds an experience that participants consistently describe as the most intense, most profound, and most “real-feeling” event of their lives. Entities are encountered. Dimensions are traversed. Time dissolves. The self shatters and reconstitutes. The experience lasts approximately 15-20 minutes by the clock but feels like eternity to the experiencer.

DMT is also, remarkably, endogenous. It is produced by the human body. It has been detected in human blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. The enzymes that synthesize it — indolethylamine-N-methyltransferase (INMT) and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) — are expressed in multiple tissues including the brain, lungs, liver, and retina.

This fact — that the human body naturally produces the most powerful psychedelic known — raises a question so provocative that mainstream neuroscience has been reluctant to fully engage with it: does endogenous DMT play a role in naturally occurring altered states of consciousness? When people meditate deeply, have near-death experiences, undergo childbirth, experience orgasm, dream vividly, or have spontaneous mystical experiences — is endogenous DMT part of the mechanism?

The answer is not yet conclusive. The evidence is tantalizing but incomplete. What we know is enough to take the question seriously. What we do not know is enough to demand caution. This is the current state of the most fascinating and most contested question at the intersection of neurochemistry and consciousness.

Rick Strassman and the Clinical Evidence

The modern investigation of DMT and consciousness begins with Rick Strassman, a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico who conducted the first FDA-approved clinical study of DMT in humans, published in 1994 and expanded in his 2001 book “DMT: The Spirit Molecule.”

The Protocol

Strassman administered intravenous DMT to 60 volunteers at carefully titrated doses and recorded their experiences in meticulous detail. The study was not designed to test the endogenous DMT hypothesis. It was designed to characterize the phenomenology and physiology of the DMT experience in a controlled clinical setting. But the data Strassman collected had implications that extended far beyond pharmacology.

The Phenomenology

Strassman’s participants reported experiences that fell into several categories, which he mapped against a spectrum of dose and individual sensitivity:

Threshold doses produced physical effects (tingling, warmth, visual brightness) without significant psychological alteration.

Moderate doses produced vivid visual imagery, emotional intensification, and alterations in body perception — what might be described as a strong psychedelic experience.

High doses produced something qualitatively different: participants reported being transported to another dimension, encountering autonomous entities (beings that appeared to have their own intelligence and agency, independent of the participant’s imagination), receiving information or communications, and experiencing a reality that felt more real than ordinary waking consciousness.

The Clinical Observations

Several of Strassman’s observations are directly relevant to the endogenous DMT hypothesis:

The speed of onset. Intravenous DMT produces effects within 30-60 seconds. This rapid onset suggests that the brain has receptor systems already in place to respond to DMT — systems that would exist because the brain already encounters DMT endogenously.

The naturalness of the experience. Many participants described the DMT state not as “being drugged” but as “being shown” or “remembering” — as if the experience was familiar, as if they had been to this state before but had forgotten. This quality of recognition suggests that the DMT state may not be entirely foreign to the brain.

The consistency of entity encounters. The independent, autonomous quality of the entities encountered during high-dose DMT sessions — and the consistency with which different participants encountered similar types of entities — was one of Strassman’s most striking findings. While not directly evidence for endogenous DMT release, the consistency of the phenomenology suggests that DMT activates specific brain circuits that produce specific experiential patterns, and that these circuits exist because they serve some endogenous function.

Jimo Borjigin and the Rodent Data

The most direct evidence for endogenous DMT production in the brain comes from the laboratory of Jimo Borjigin at the University of Michigan.

The 2013 Study: DMT in the Dying Brain

In a landmark 2013 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Borjigin and colleagues demonstrated a surge of coherent neural activity in the dying brains of rats. When rats were subjected to cardiac arrest, their brains showed a transient increase in highly synchronized gamma oscillations — the neural signature of conscious processing — for approximately 30 seconds after the heart stopped. The gamma activity was more coherent and more synchronized than anything observed during normal waking consciousness.

While this study did not directly measure DMT levels, it demonstrated that the dying brain is far more active than previously assumed — and that the neural activity patterns observed are consistent with the conscious processing that would be expected if endogenous DMT were being released.

The 2019 Study: DMT Detected in Rat Brain

In 2019, Borjigin’s group (Dean et al.) published a study in Scientific Reports that directly measured DMT levels in rat brain tissue using microdialysis. The key findings:

DMT is present in the rat brain at detectable levels during normal consciousness. This confirmed that DMT is not merely a metabolic byproduct excreted in urine but is actively present in brain tissue at concentrations sufficient to potentially interact with neural receptors.

DMT levels increase during cardiac arrest. Following cardiac arrest, DMT levels in the rat brain increased significantly. The timing of this increase corresponded to the period of heightened gamma activity observed in the 2013 study.

The synthesis machinery is present. The enzymes required for DMT synthesis (INMT and AADC) are expressed in multiple brain regions, including the pineal gland, the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and the choroid plexus. The brain has the enzymatic equipment to produce DMT locally.

Limitations

The rodent data is compelling but carries significant limitations:

• The concentrations measured are low. Whether the levels of DMT detected in rat brain tissue are sufficient to produce psychoactive effects at 5-HT2A and sigma-1 receptors is debated. Some researchers argue that the concentrations are too low; others argue that local concentrations at synapses may be much higher than bulk tissue measurements suggest.

• Rat brains are not human brains. While the enzymatic machinery is similar, direct extrapolation from rodent to human requires caution.

• Cardiac arrest is not meditation. The conditions that produce DMT elevation in rats (severe physiological crisis) may not be the same conditions that produce mystical experiences in healthy, meditating humans.

The Pineal Gland Connection

The pineal gland — a small, pine cone-shaped endocrine gland located near the center of the brain — has been central to DMT speculation since Strassman’s original work. Strassman proposed the pineal gland as a potential site of endogenous DMT production, drawing on several observations:

Rene Descartes called the pineal gland “the seat of the soul.” This is a historical curiosity, not evidence, but it reflects a long tradition of associating the pineal with consciousness and spiritual experience.

The pineal gland produces melatonin from serotonin. DMT is structurally similar to both serotonin and melatonin (all three are tryptamine derivatives), and the enzymatic pathways for melatonin synthesis overlap with potential DMT synthesis pathways.

The pineal gland contains INMT. Borjigin’s 2019 study confirmed that the rat pineal gland expresses INMT, the enzyme that converts tryptamine to DMT. However, the study also found INMT in many other brain regions — the pineal is not uniquely privileged as a DMT source.

The pineal gland’s unique position. Located outside the blood-brain barrier (it is one of the few brain structures that lacks a tight blood-brain barrier), the pineal gland has direct access to the bloodstream. Any DMT it produces could potentially reach systemic circulation rapidly.

The Balanced Assessment

The pineal gland probably does produce some DMT. But it is almost certainly not the only source, and it may not be the most important source. The cerebral cortex itself contains the enzymes for DMT synthesis, and cortical production would deliver DMT directly to the receptors where it would have its most profound effects. The romantic narrative of the pineal gland as the “third eye” that secretes the “spirit molecule” during mystical experiences is more poetic than scientific. The reality is likely more distributed — DMT synthesis occurring across multiple brain regions, regulated by mechanisms we do not yet understand.

Holotropic Breathwork: DMT-Like Experiences Without DMT?

One of the most intriguing lines of evidence in the endogenous DMT discussion comes from holotropic breathwork — Stanislav Grof’s method of accelerated breathing that produces experiences remarkably similar to those produced by psychedelics, including DMT.

The Phenomenological Overlap

Holotropic breathwork practitioners report:

• Vivid visual imagery, often with geometric and fractal qualities
• Entity encounters (though less frequently than with exogenous DMT)
• Experiences of other dimensions or realities
• Ego dissolution and unity experiences
• Time distortion and spatial transcendence
• A quality of the experience feeling “more real than real”

This phenomenological overlap with the DMT experience has led to speculation that holotropic breathwork might induce endogenous DMT release. The proposed mechanism: sustained hyperventilation produces respiratory alkalosis (elevated blood pH), which alters the activity of MAO (monoamine oxidase, the enzyme that normally degrades DMT) and INMT (the enzyme that synthesizes DMT), potentially tipping the balance toward DMT accumulation.

The Alternative Explanation

However, the phenomenological similarity between breathwork and DMT experiences does not necessarily mean they share the same neurochemical mechanism. Hyperventilation produces a cascade of physiological effects — cerebral vasoconstriction, transient hypoxia, neuronal hyperexcitability, altered ion channel function, disrupted interoceptive processing — that could produce DMT-like phenomenology through entirely different mechanisms. The brain has multiple pathways to similar experiential territory. Convergent phenomenology does not prove convergent chemistry.

Near-Death Experiences: The Strongest Circumstantial Case

The strongest circumstantial case for endogenous DMT playing a role in naturally occurring altered states comes from near-death experiences (NDEs).

The Phenomenological Match

NDEs are among the most consistent and cross-culturally stable altered states documented. Core features include:

• A sense of peace and well-being
• Separation from the body (out-of-body experience)
• Entering darkness or a tunnel
• Encountering a brilliant light
• Meeting deceased relatives or spiritual beings
• A “life review” — panoramic recall of life events
• Reaching a border or threshold
• Returning to the body, often with reluctance

The phenomenological overlap with the DMT experience is striking. Strassman noted the similarity in his clinical work, and subsequent researchers have confirmed the parallel. A 2018 study by Timmermann et al. at Imperial College London directly compared the phenomenology of DMT experiences with NDEs using validated questionnaires and found significant overlap — particularly in the categories of mystical experience, entity encounter, transcendence of time and space, and the sense of entering another reality.

The Borjigin Connection

Borjigin’s finding that DMT levels increase in the rat brain during cardiac arrest provides a potential mechanism: when the body undergoes severe physiological crisis (the condition that triggers NDEs), the brain releases a surge of DMT that produces the phenomenology of the near-death experience. The “tunnel of light,” the “entity encounters,” the “life review” — all of these could be the brain’s endogenous DMT system activating during the extreme conditions of near-death.

The Cautionary Note

This hypothesis is elegant but unproven in humans. We do not have data on DMT levels in the human brain during near-death conditions (and for obvious ethical reasons, we cannot conduct the experiment). The rodent data is suggestive but not conclusive. And alternative explanations for NDEs — including endorphin release, cortical disinhibition, temporal lobe seizure activity, and the effects of anoxia — remain viable.

Other Candidate States: When Else Might Endogenous DMT Be Released?

Beyond NDEs, several naturally occurring states have been proposed as potential occasions for endogenous DMT release:

Deep Meditation

Advanced meditators report experiences that closely parallel the DMT state — particularly the formless, objectless awareness of deep samadhi, the entity encounters of visionary meditation states, and the time/space transcendence of deep absorption. Borjigin’s demonstration that the brain contains the enzymatic machinery for DMT synthesis, combined with the phenomenological parallel, makes endogenous DMT release during deep meditation a plausible hypothesis.

REM Sleep and Lucid Dreaming

Dreams, particularly vivid dreams and lucid dreams, share phenomenological features with the DMT experience — immersive visual environments, encounters with autonomous characters, altered time perception, emotional intensity. Some researchers have speculated that endogenous DMT may play a role in the generation of dream content, particularly during the intense neural activity of REM sleep. However, direct evidence is lacking.

Childbirth

The extreme physiological stress of childbirth, the massive hormonal cascade, and the reports from many mothers of altered consciousness states during delivery have led to speculation that endogenous DMT may be released during the birth process — for both the mother and, potentially, the newborn. Strassman speculated that endogenous DMT release at birth might constitute the newborn’s “first trip” — the initial activation of consciousness in the new organism.

Orgasm

The phenomenology of intense orgasm — ego dissolution, time distortion, unity experience, altered perception — overlaps with mild DMT-like states. The extreme neurochemical cascade of orgasm (oxytocin, endorphins, dopamine, prolactin) could potentially include endogenous DMT release, though no direct measurement has been made.

Spontaneous Mystical Experience

Perhaps the most interesting candidate: the spontaneous mystical experience that occurs without any external trigger — while walking in nature, during quiet contemplation, in the middle of ordinary activity. These experiences, documented across all cultures and all historical periods, are among the most transformative events in human life. Their unpredictability and the difficulty of studying them in the laboratory have made their neurochemistry almost entirely unknown. Endogenous DMT is one candidate mechanism, but far from the only one.

The Sigma-1 Receptor: A Overlooked Piece of the Puzzle

Much of the DMT discussion focuses on the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor — the primary target of classical psychedelics. But DMT also has significant affinity for the sigma-1 receptor, an intracellular protein that acts as a molecular chaperone in the endoplasmic reticulum.

The sigma-1 receptor is increasingly recognized as a key regulator of cellular stress response, neuroplasticity, and neuroprotection. It is activated by endogenous ligands during cellular stress — exactly the conditions that accompany near-death, extreme breathwork, and other crisis states. DMT binding to sigma-1 receptors may serve a neuroprotective function — protecting neural tissue during hypoxic or ischemic conditions by modulating calcium signaling, reducing oxidative stress, and promoting cell survival.

This suggests a dual function for endogenous DMT: at the sigma-1 receptor, it protects the brain during physiological crisis. At the 5-HT2A receptor, it produces the phenomenology of the mystical experience. The “spirit molecule” may be both a survival mechanism and a consciousness-altering agent — a molecule that simultaneously protects the brain and opens it to transcendent experience.

The Honest Assessment

Where does the endogenous DMT hypothesis stand today? Here is the honest assessment:

What is established:

• The human body produces DMT. The enzymes for its synthesis are expressed in the brain, lungs, liver, and other tissues.
• DMT is present in the rat brain at detectable levels during normal consciousness.
• DMT levels increase in the rat brain during cardiac arrest.
• The phenomenology of exogenous DMT closely parallels the phenomenology of NDEs, deep meditation, and other naturally occurring altered states.
• DMT has affinity for both 5-HT2A and sigma-1 receptors, suggesting multiple functional roles.

What is plausible but unproven:

• That endogenous DMT levels in the human brain reach concentrations sufficient to produce psychoactive effects at 5-HT2A receptors.
• That endogenous DMT is released during meditation, near-death, childbirth, orgasm, or spontaneous mystical experience in humans.
• That the pineal gland is a primary site of endogenous DMT production.
• That endogenous DMT plays a functional role in dreaming.

What is speculative:

• That the endogenous DMT system is the primary mechanism of all mystical experience.
• That practices like breathwork reliably increase endogenous DMT levels.
• That the “third eye” concept of Eastern traditions literally refers to pineal DMT production.

The endogenous DMT hypothesis is one of the most fascinating and most poorly resolved questions in consciousness research. The evidence is strong enough to take seriously and too incomplete to accept uncritically. The responsible position is to pursue the research — to develop the tools needed to measure DMT levels in the living human brain during altered states — while resisting the temptation to treat speculation as established fact.

The Wetware Perspective

From the Digital Dharma perspective, the endogenous DMT system is remarkable regardless of which specific hypotheses prove correct. The fact that the human body produces a molecule capable of inducing the most profound altered states of consciousness known — and that it contains the receptor systems to respond to this molecule — means that transcendent experience is part of the design specification of human wetware.

The body does not produce DMT by accident. It has the genes that code for the enzymes. It expresses those enzymes in the brain. The receptors that respond to DMT are among the most abundant in the cortex. The entire system is in place. The only question is when and why it activates.

If the endogenous DMT hypothesis proves correct — even partially — it means that the mystical experience is not an aberration, not a malfunction, not a cultural construction, and not a symptom of pathology. It is a built-in function of the operating system — a mode that the hardware is designed to enter under specific conditions. The “spirit molecule” is not an intruder. It is native software.

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This article synthesizes Rick Strassman’s clinical DMT research at the University of New Mexico and his book “DMT: The Spirit Molecule” (2001), Jimo Borjigin’s rodent studies including the 2013 PNAS paper on neural activity during cardiac arrest and the 2019 Scientific Reports paper on DMT detection in rat brain, Timmermann et al.’s 2018 comparison of DMT and NDE phenomenology at Imperial College London, Stanislav Grof’s holotropic breathwork research, research on sigma-1 receptor function, and the broader literature on endogenous psychedelic compounds.