But if this protein is indeed found in the CSF it was transported there because there are no cells in the CSF.

I don't see the practical reason for this either. . .

You are both correct. Chemicals are just tools and switches that somehow help dictate how mind feels acts etc. They are not the mind. They are a part of the mind. All neurotransmitters are doing is acting as transistors so to say they are changing the switches in our brain which permit this flow of electricity. This flow is mind.

As far as DMT and or Acetylcholine being involved in dreams, although yes the evidence for DMT is scant and personally the dreams I have when asleep dont look anything like the dreams one has when taking spice, however look at it this way acetylcholine has been shown to be one of the switches involved in REM sleep. Thats all. Thats fine by me. DMT so far hasn't.

alas, it only adds to the mystique that is endogenous DMT. tough to detect synthesis in vivo/situ, given current methods.
fairly fascinating stuff nonetheless

indeed, and that is one of my arguments when ppl adamantly defend the "dream theory", particularly the fans of joe rogan. people who have no concept of dmt, it's completely new to them, follow this man's regurgitation of theories as if he's spewing facts.
his claim was "every night, when you go to sleep, your brain pumps out heavy doses of dimethyltryptamine" and "if you don't dream, you'll go crazy and die".

the latter may have some semblance of truth to it, but he insinuated that DMT, a medically 'unimportant' compound, causes dreams.

Yeah, this is abundantly not true and is probably based on a poor reading of Strassman.

If there is any truth to the dream theory it will be far more nuanced. Perhaps DMT really does lie at the base of the human sense of spirituality. We can crudely quantify spirituality in a member of any culture by measuring the perception of 'connectedness' to other people and/or something bigger. The prediction is that people who feel more spiritual will have more abundant or productive DMTergic neurons. (of course we still have to identify the DMTergic neurons. This could be done in mouse I bet.)
I think Strassman thought the pineal was a good candidate because there is evidence that it is important for the human sense of spirituality. Kinda circular there but it is really just a candidate. Since this INMT seems to be expressed in the rabbit brain it will almost certainly be expressed in the mouse brain. Slice, stain and stare. The experiment to prove Strassman wrong is trivial.

Of course, it is entirely likely that DMT may have a very mundane function in the CNS. Perhaps DMT is made to target excess tryptamines to the CSF for removal from the brain.

there is certainly no direct evidence for such a thing.

that's pretty much how I see it. it was simply a proposed hypothesis by Strassman, in no way did he state a claim, it's the people who confuse theories with facts that make this dubious distinction.
I also think it has a medically insignificant role in neurosignalling, but may serve as a possible ligand for human spirituality. makes more sense than superstition written in scripture.

During the first part of every trip I experience dreams from the nights before only for a brief second, almost like a dream dejavu. The rush and clarity of this is amazing and I think the dream theory is right on the money.

Sorry to bump an 8 year old thread, but it is fascinating, and much has been learned since then that might shed light on the subject.

My piece to add is subjective only at present. I agree that DMT probably does NOT play a role in normal dreaming, or if it does it is minor compared to things like acetylcholine, serotonin, norepinephrine, etc.

However, that being said, I DO believe it may play a role in OBEs, ie. Out of Body Experiences. There is a whole continuum of kinds of OBEs one can have, on the more "mundane" end we are just experiencing a kind of extremely real simulation of our normal environment, that at the time can feel more real than everyday reality. And colors and emotions are extremely magnified.

Then, there are the more exotic OBEs which are often referred to as happening on the "Mental Plane" or "Causal Plane". These are characterized by "4D" visions of fractals, mandalas, feelings of unity with all that is, etc. I have had a hundreds of normal OBEs and lucid dreams, and a handful of these later more exotic types.

Recently Rick Strassman published a book called DMT and the Soul of Prophecy. In it he describes a number of states experienced by participants in his DMT studies and many of them are a lot like the OBE experience.

Again, subjective, but hopefully interesting FWIW. Also intesting that people report they can be in a lucid dream, decide to smoke DMT in that dream, and then suddenly have DMT like experiences.

In my case, a similar thing happens in a lucid dream by deciding to do meditation in the lucid dream, or by simply saying Ommmmm. It is like in that dream state, the mind possibly has control to flick a switch that produces DMT somewhat "on demand" (there often seems to be a lag and sometimes a feeling of energy build up, sometimes almost unbearable).

Anyway, not sure anyone will see this, but would love to hear any new ideas on the subject. I am also super interested on INMT/DMT in the cerebral spinal fluid, etc. which was talked about a lot in this thread...