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Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Instrumentation for Real-time Enzymatic Reaction Rate Measurements by NMR
Published on: February 23, 2016
DMT-Induced Shifts in Criticality Correlate with Self-Dissolution
Mona Irrmischer1, Marco Aqil2, Lisa Luan2
1GGZ Research, Academic Center for Trauma and Personality, Amsterdam 1054 GE, The Netherlands monairrmischer@gmail.com c.timmermann-slater15@imperial.ac.uk.
Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) shifts brain oscillations away from critical dynamics, increasing entropy and decreasing complexity. This shift correlates with profound subjective experiences like self-dissolution during psychedelic states.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychopharmacology
- Complexity Science
Background:
- Psychedelics profoundly impact subjective experience and brain dynamics.
- Brain oscillations exhibit near-critical dynamics crucial for healthy brain function.
- Altered criticality is hypothesized to underlie psychedelic effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the effects of Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on brain oscillation criticality.
- Relate these changes to subjective experiences in humans.
- Determine the direction of criticality shift induced by DMT.
Main Methods:
- Human participants administered DMT.
- Analysis of brain oscillations, focusing on alpha and adjacent frequency bands.
- Utilized a functional excitatory-inhibitory ratio metric to assess criticality.
Main Results:
- DMT shifted brain oscillations away from criticality in alpha and theta bands.
- Observed increased entropy and reduced complexity in brain dynamics.
- Criticality shifts correlated with the intensity of self-dissolution experiences.
- DMT-induced shifts moved brain dynamics towards subcritical regimes.
Conclusions:
- DMT alters brain dynamics by moving them away from criticality.
- These neurological changes are linked to key subjective psychedelic effects.
- Findings offer insights into psychedelic mechanisms and altered states of consciousness.
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