Even if I were to experience proof that DMT is NOT created in my head, that experience would still be created in my head.

It is magical!

My metabolites travel lite!!



How many times can you say 'round' without thinking of infinity?

Surely Truth, you are being rather tongue-in-cheek right now ?

There was a blog post published on 1/30/13 to this effect: http://forteansquirrel.w...ain-what-scientists-say/

"DMT and Our Brain: What the Scientists Say"

http://plato.stanford.ed...ntries/pineal-gland/#3.2

Pretty comprehensive review on the Pineal Gland as an organ, and the history of its hypothesised functions.

Let us not forget, that the reason the pineal gland was (and is by many today) regarded as something mystical, was Descartes's hypothesis, which said that since it's the only organ in the brain that does not split between hemispheres, it "must be" the organ that holds the soul (because it's "one", go figure).

As a side note, let us not forget also, that Hippocrates thought the uterus traveled around the female body when women experienced menstruation.

P.S. Kookaburra that was an excellent read, and I am taking the liberty of posting the conclusion of that post which sums it up nicely :

"But let’s face it: few of us reading this are likely to be scientists with a sufficient amount of expertise to say one way or another. If you still have doubts, the best thing you can do is avoid speculating or pretending to know what you don’t, and simply reserve judgment until you have more facts. You may not have the satisfaction of knowing an answer for sure, but at least you’ll be more intellectually honest in the process."

All I got from that blog is a bunch of handwaving, and very little technical data.

Hehe, yeah.

I agree, but good enough for the layman. I guess it's not an issue yet, to include actual information (maybe if it wasn't a blog).

Thought I would revive this thread...

For those interested Erowid posted a fairly detailed discussion of the facts in 2010:

http://www.erowid.org/ask/ask.php?ID=3146

Here is a link to a poster from Nicholas Cozzi. It used INMT antibodies to probe INMT presence in CNS and spinal cord in three different (non-human) primates. INMT immunoreactivity was observed in various CNS regions in all three species.

Link for the poster:
http://www.academia.edu/...n_primate_nervous_tissue

This is his current abstract for this poster for the MAPS 2013 conference:

Indolethylamine N-methyltransferase Expression in Primate Nervous Tissue

Nicholas Cozzi

N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a naturally-occurring indole hallucinogen found in plants, animals, and humans, but its biological role has not been fully characterized. DMT has been proposed to act as a neurotransmitter in humans and to be involved in psychosis, dreaming, near-death experiences, and spiritual exaltation. DMT is biosynthesized from tryptamine through the actions of the enzyme indolethylamine N-methyltransferase (INMT). Using S-adenosyl methionine as the methyl donor, INMT catalyzes the addition of methyl groups to tryptamine and analogous indole alkylamines.

Human INMT was cloned and sequenced in 1999. Assessment of human INMT expression by Northern blot analysis in 35 tissues revealed widespread INMT mRNA distribution with high levels in thyroid, adrenal gland, and lung. However, in the central nervous system, INMT mRNA was detected only in the spinal cord, but not in whole brain or in seven brain subregions. This observation suggested that INMT may not be involved in DMT biosynthesis in the brain and calls into question the role, if any, of endogenous DMT in producing exceptional mental states. To explore the possibility that INMT is expressed in nervous tissue but that in some situations, INMT mRNA is not detectable by Northern analysis (e.g. the INMT gene is inducible, INMT expression is limited to specific brain nuclei, or INMT mRNA in brain is short-lived), we probed three primate nervous system tissues with antibodies to INMT itself. The antibodies were generated against the C-terminus of human INMT during the original cloning of the human INMT gene. Rhesus macaque spinal cord, pineal gland, and retina were probed with rabbit polyclonal antibodies to human INMT and with mouse antibodies to synaptophysin and synaptotagmin. Nuclear DNA was visualized with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Binding of primary antibodies to the tissues was visualized with fluorescent goat anti-rabbit and goat anti-mouse secondary antibodies. All three of the nervous tissues tested were positive for INMT immunoreactivity. In agreement with earlier Northern studies in human tissue, INMT immunoreactivity was detected in spinal cord where it was localized in ventral horn motoneurons. In the pineal gland, the INMT signal was robust and punctuate but did not colocalize with synaptophysin, synaptotagmin, or DAPI. Strong INMT immunoreactivity was detected in retinal ganglion neurons and at synapses in the inner and outer plexiform layers. We conclude that INMT protein is expressed in some primate central nervous system tissues, but whether INMT expression is associated with the biosynthesis of DMT in neurons remains to be investigated.


Here is a link to a great talk Nick gave at the MAPS 2010 conference.
He shows DMT is released from PC12 cells upon electro-induced depolarization using patch amperometry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAdPZuZ5GXE


A great recent review on the presence of detection of endogenous DMT was also published in Drug Testing and Analysis by Barker McIlhenny and Strassman. I do not have acess to the full text to post currently but here is a link:

http://onlinelibrary.wil...10.1002/dta.422/abstract

Full text posted here:

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=419114#post419114

Thank you dreamer042!

also this thread.

also if anyone can explain why the prior study about INMT 'outweighs' this one, i would be deeply obliged (benzyme seemed convinced, but he didn't quite mention why)

I believe the mystery manufacturer to be the pancreas. We all have our own theories or ideas but Strassman's ideas pollute those drawn to the molecule; and rightfully so. He worked extremely hard to conduct research that we all are thankful for and we need to respect that regardless of his conclusions, or lack there of, he's tried to solve the equation to the best of his ability and it is the ignorance of the naive that are to blame for the pineal theory's popularity not Strassman. We will never have room to talk until one of us actually step up and figure it out for humanity.

[quote=The Neural]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pineal-gland/#3.2

Pretty comprehensive review on the Pineal Gland as an organ, and the history of its hypothesised functions.

Let us not forget, that the reason the pineal gland was (and is by many today) regarded as something mystical, was Descartes's hypothesis, which said that since it's the only organ in the brain that does not split between hemispheres, it "must be" the organ that holds the soul (because it's "one", go figure).


I just saw your post. Fascinating stuff. Descartes couldn't get past Dualism, tho, I don't think. As the centre of consciousness, the knowing experiencer that mediates between sensation and intention, Descartes pineal gland looks more like an "enlightened" re-visionist interpretation and naming of the Holy Ghost, a particularly popular spook at that time. Dualism somehow balanced on a tri-pod god called by another name. Not saying I got it right; just finding it interesting.


As a side note, let us not forget also, that Hippocrates thought the uterus traveled around the female body when women experienced menstruation.

And Aristotle thought eating beans was a form of cannibalism. Still... they did come up with evolution, the circumference of the earth, and whatever it was they took during the Mysteries.

It just seemed that Descartes established and subsequently reinforced a sort of "unique" belief on the significance of the pineal gland, that can easily be brought about in debates to argue "for" this significance, which was the main purpose of my point.



I am not sure what the purpose of this statement is. It seems that you are defending a specific nation, as if it was "under attack" by my statement. I only mentioned Hippocrates' theory to show that many sustainable beliefs are not necessarily true or have any merit whatsoever (to back up my statement on Descartes). Your last response would have made sense if I said "what did the Greeks know, even Hippocrates thought that [...]".

(he even openly and humbly stated a gazillion times "this is just a theory" ).

I don't think we can avoid pointing fingers at Joe Rogan though (even though I like his acts), for taking advantage of being at a spotlight and listened to by thousands of people, shouting that "the pineal gland makes dmt, it does when you sleep and dream, it does on near death and religious experiences, and it's literally your third eye, even reptiles have this eye with a cornea and all, go read The Spirit Molecule, it's all in there". As you said, it's the interaction between naive individuals, and the phenomenon of "expert opinion".

The Neural,

Sorry if I seemed to be defending a position. I was acting like a little kid sidling up to the grown-ups clumsily trying to join the conversation. My bad. Back to topic. I'm outa here.

proof going forward!

DMT Found in the Pineal Gland of Live Rats

http://www.cottonwoodresearch.org/dmt-pineal-2013/

I didn't realize rats made forum posts...

The title of the thread is "made in your head", not "found in your head".

You also may find that others appreciate a normal font when posting, since it's the content of the post that we're interested in, not how flashy it looks.