Subjective effects and neurophysiological correlates of inhaled consumption of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in an urban natural environment.

FEDERICO CAVANNA; CARLA PALLAVICINI; FEDERICO ZAMBERLAN; ENZO TAGLIAZUCCHI

Congreso; XXXIV Reunión Anual SAN 2019; 2019

Serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists areknown for their ability to induce profound and transient changes inthe user's consciousness. An example of these compounds is theclassic serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) whichis frequently consumed both orally ?ayahuasca? orvia inhalation of free base vapor.In recent years human research usingpsychotropic substances has been revitalized, yetmost of the published experimentswere carried out in an isolated experimentation environment. This canmodify both the mental state a person brings to the experience, likethoughts, mood and expectations (?set?) and the physical andsocial environment ('setting'). The objective of this work is toinvestigate the consumption of DMT in an urban natural environment;that is, in the context chosen by the users to carry out theirexperience. Using a minimally invasive experimental design, a seriesof psychometric scales are administered before and after theexperience, during which we record changes in cortical oscillationsassociated with different stages of the acute effect of consumption,measured with a portable electroencephalograph (EEG).Preliminary results show a reduction in thealpha band spectral power, as reported in previous studies on DMT andother psychedelics, and suggest correlations between personalitytraits, changes in mood and anxiety scores and the overall effects ofthe reported experience.p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; direction: ltr; line-height: 120%; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; }p.western { font-family: "Calibri", serif; font-size: 11pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 11pt; }p.ctl { font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 11pt; }