I saw a thread where people were arguing about whether DMT is likely to be found to be made in the brain or somewhere else in the body. Some thought for sure that one day we would discover that it is produced in the brain while others did not... Then I kinda stopped reading because it was a little repetitive.

I have some thoughts on that issue I want to discuss with you guys, but first I have some questions I'd like to ask.

Now, one of my questions is: Is DMT found in trace amounts in our blood at all times?

yes

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=25593

i would have to say no but i would be interested to read a report on this subject

i wouldnt think it could be too dificult to find a ture/false answer with the proper lab equip

I think the majority of DMT is found in cerebrospinal fluid and possibly lung tissue.

definatly in my lung tissue lol

i don't see the confusion.. its definitely in the blood..i mean the heart and lungs produce the stuff and its been found in the blood..so afaik- it is in the blood.

if your looking for the studies in this area, check this thread: https://www.dmt-nexus.me....aspx?g=posts&t=1441

the answer to this is also in the FAQ at the bottom of the pineal gland question

Well if it's in our blood or produced in an organ as vital as our lungs then I think it's safe to assume that it's making it to our brain 24/7, and it's probably highly regulated along with other chemicals obviously (serotonin, melatonin?, cannabinoids?!, etc.. I'm not a scientist or anything so spare me if I don't know what I'm talking about) to make up our daily experience. Could DMT be some kind of chemical through which our soul communicates with our body? And since throughout the day we have low levels of it in our blood, we are only getting a certain amount of information from our soul which makes up our daily experience, and our sleeping experience, because it's so regulated; that's why it's so controlled, and the world isn't chaotic, but when you consume DMT, you overload your body with more than it's normally use to. Now since it's in our body all the time, this would explain the duration being so short, because it has such a high tolerance it would metabolize it quickly. I'm sure this has already been pointed out many times. So if you're getting overloaded with 'information' directly from your soul then that has to be translated into your nervous system for experience which would explain why we experience the trips we do....

Idk I'm gonna try to break through and think more on this later...

I'm not sure about any of that. Even if we found what the true purpose of DMT is you could never disprove that hypothesis you outlined. That lies in the spiritual realm so I can't even begin to address that idea.
What I do know is that DMT is found in very small quantities in the human body, it could serve some function similar to endorphins. If you're not familiar endorphins are natural painkillers(opiates), in fact how opioid drugs work is by binding to those endorphin sites like a lock in a key.
Now lets compare this to DMT, it could be a natural psychedelic, those who argue that DMT is responsible for the near death experience probably support this idea. The truth is we really don't know what function it serves in human metabolism. But I like to be optimistic and think we may get to the bottom of it one day.

I'm sure this is going to be a very subjective topic for people here, but I personally like to think that this is exactly what it is. It's said that DMT is released into a fetus 49 days after conception, marking the arrival the spirit into the body. Tibetan beliefs state that the journey after death takes 49 days. But I'm sure all of us here have already heard that. Some of my hyperspace journeys have felt more like a communion with my soul as opposed to external forces as well, but like I said, it's all very subjective.

I wonder if it's true that there is a connection of DMT and our dreams, such as I've heard from somewhere...

A Chapter in Alex. Shulgins Thikal is called " DMT is everywhere" , Animal, plant and marine life. It would be stretching it a bit to beleive that a Coral or Sea Anemone or a blade of grass would need it for a journey to the afterlife. It's just there as a trace amine in living things. It's real function is conjecture at the present state of our knowledge. I've toyed with the idea that endogenously adminsitered DMT messes with our brains "default mode"that being what suits selfish DNA, notably survival and procreation. For that we need to be firmly grounded in the material world. DMT could briefly lift the default mode and enable the brain to pick up paranormal activity .

The remarkable simiarity between personal accounts coming in from all corners of the globe and all levels of intellect, would suggest to me that this "unseen activity" is either uniformaly distributed ,either in or brains or more fancifully in a hidden dimension not accessable for DNA driven Homo-sapiens.

But one could put that argument up for other substances natural or synthetic, Ibogaine, Mushrooms, Deadly Nightshade ( Scopalimines) 5 Meo, Ketamine.
Even the sleeping pill Ambien, can do some hellishy convincing disoctiative states.

However none have managed to instill the same unwavering conviction that "we are not alone" that DMT has. So yeah after all that I am convinced it has a special role in our life!

Even more that that. It's produced in the CNS which as direct access to the brain via the cerbral spinal fluid.

Peace

I understand what you are saying about it being in many plants which wouldn't need it like us.
However, they don't have the same brain chemistry as us. Its very likely they don't use it the same way we do. It could just be a byproduct in plants, but we evolved much later. Perhaps we evolved some unique way to use this already existing molecule, within our specific brain chemistry, as an endogenous psychedelic. Perhaps to assist in natural hallucinatory states such as dreaming or NDE. As you said though this is pure conjecture.

I agree. Just because it's in different plants/animals, there's nothing to say that it's not there for a different purpose for them and going by a behaviorist model which is rarely accurate anyway, the NDE won't come into play because they'll be for the most part dead and not "behaving" at all, so it's really hard to say how DMT would affect a dying plant or animal that contained DMT.

Plants are not sentient beings so the NDE as you say could be discounted fairly rationally, however the animal kingdom is so varied, and endowed with such vastly different levels of intelligence, that discounting the occurence of an NDE in a Dolphin would be more difficult than with a Tryptamine infused Sonoran Desert Toad. ( assuming DMT had anything to do with a NDE in the first place)

The discussion is entirely speculative no matter what view one aspires too. Science is still in it's infancy and we are for the most part blissfully unaware of how limited our knowledge is at this point in time.


"We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection"- Dalai Lama

You're right that science is in it's infancy. Particularly with DMT research, we still have a lot to learn. I find it mind boggling that we haven't even sent a probe outside our solar system yet. Its a shame, but we'll get there one day.

One thing I can say is that to me DMT could definitely be like a NDE, especially for a first time dose, which if it is released at death would be the first "dose" for many. My first breakthrough felt completely like a visit from a God or Gods, it seemed like a hive mind intelligence. At any rate, the fact that it feels like God is enough to convince me that it could be considered a NDE. I have a close friend who always describes his breakthroughs as like "being in heaven". And I've heard numerous reports of the God-like phenomenon.

are there not a wide variety of amines found in trace amounts in-vivo?

Determination of potentially halluncinogenic N-dimethylated indoleamines in human urine by HPLC/ESI-MS link

If you think plants aren't sentient then you may want to look into Cleve Backster's work "Primary Perception". Although the myth buster guys had a hard time reproducing effects, it could be argued that they weren't as connected with their subjects. Also generations of shamans would beg to differ that plants aren't sentient.

It is my belief that nothing on this evolved completely of and by itself with no interaction with any other living organism.

That being said, maybe humans have evolved WITH or FROM DMT containing plants or animals, and for whatever reason, our body found it important enough to keep.