DMT for Neuroimaging & Brain Measures

9 papers and 10 clinical trials exploring dmt as a treatment for neuroimaging & brain measures.

CompoundTryptamine

DMT

A powerful, short-acting tryptamine psychedelic found in many botanical sources, known for rapid onset and intense subjective experiences.

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IndicationApproximately 264 million people globally suffer from depression, with PTSD affecting around 8 million adults in the United States each year.

Neuroimaging & Brain Measures

Recent advances in neuroimaging have shed light on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of psychedelics, particularly in the treatment of mental health disorders such as depression and PTSD. Studies involving compounds like psilocybin and MDMA have demonstrated significant changes in brain activity associated with therapeutic outcomes.

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Academic Research

9 papers

Open Accessindividual

Meditation, psychedelics, and brain connectivity: A randomized controlled resting-state fMRI study of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmine in a meditation retreat

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled resting-state fMRI study of 40 meditation practitioners, buccal DMT–harmine increased functional connectivity within the visual network and between visual and attention/salience networks, whereas meditation with placebo produced greater network segregation. No prolonged disruption of cortical gradients was observed, indicating a return to typical brain organisation shortly after the experience and pointing to distinct neural mechanisms — and potential clinical complementarities — between meditation and psychedelic-augmented meditation.

Published: September 29, 2025
Journal: Imaging Neuroscience
Authors: Avram, M., Egger, K., Meling, D., Polat, F., Scheidegger, M., Seifritz, E.

Open Accessindividual

Resilience and Brain Changes in Long-Term Ayahuasca Users: Insights From Psychometric and fMRI Pattern Recognition

Long-term ayahuasca users exhibited higher psychological resilience and distinct patterns of emotional brain reactivity on fMRI, with a machine-learning classifier separating users from controls at 75% accuracy and a regression model predicting individual resilience (r = 0.69). These findings suggest long-term ayahuasca use is associated with neural adaptations in emotional processing detectable by multivariate pattern analysis.

Published: August 20, 2025
Journal: Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Authors: Arruda Sanchez, T., Fernandes Jr, O., Rego Ramos, L.

Open Accessindividual

Transient destabilization of whole brain dynamics induced by N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)

Using a time-dependent whole-brain model parametrised by DMT pharmacokinetics, the authors show that intravenous DMT transiently moves the brain toward a global bifurcation, producing a brief increase in network reactivity concentrated in fronto‑parietal and visual cortices that correlates with 5‑HT2A receptor density. This provides a mechanistic account of the psychedelic state and predicts that its temporal evolution tracks DMT pharmacokinetics.

Published: March 11, 2025
Journal: Communications Biology
Authors: Carhart-Harris, R. L., Deco, G., Kringelbach, M. L., Nutt, D. J., Pallavicini, C., Perl, Y. S., Piccinini, J. I., Tagliazucchi, E., Timmermann, C.

Open Accessindividual

DMT micro-phenomenology

Using micro-phenomenological interviews with 23 participants who received DMT during fMRI, the study shows DMT reliably produces deeply immersive presence experiences that unfold through a characteristic layering—initial multisensory effects followed by spatial, self-related and social reconfigurations. This structural and temporal mapping extends beyond concepts like ego dissolution to advance understanding of DMT's effects and the architecture of conscious experience, and demonstrates the value of systematic first‑person methods for comparing altered states.

Published: December 29, 2024
Journal: Preprints
Authors: Carhart-Harris, R. L., Daily, Z. G., Milliere, R., Sanders, J. W., Timmermann, C.

Open Accessindividual

Brain substates induced by DMT relate to sympathetic output and meaningfulness of the experience

Using simultaneous fMRI and EKG in 14 volunteers, the study identifies a DMT‑induced brain substate—hippocampal and medial parietal deactivation with increased superior temporal activity—linked to altered sense of time/space/self and vivid audio‑visual “entities”. Increased heart rate covaried with these deactivations and the experience of entities, suggesting a chain from sympathetic activation to specific neural and phenomenological effects that may relate to therapeutic changes in self‑referential processing.

Published: February 19, 2024
Journal: Biorxiv
Authors: Carhart-Harris, R. L., Gallen, C. L., Gazzaley, A., Kettner, H., Pasquini, L., Roseman, L., Simon, A. J., Timmermann, C.

Open Accessindividual

Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI

In a within-subject, placebo-controlled EEG–fMRI study of 20 volunteers, IV DMT produced robust increases in global functional connectivity, network disintegration and desegregation, and a compression of the principal cortical gradient. These imaging changes tracked subjective intensity, correlated with PET-derived 5‑HT2A receptor maps and EEG alterations, supporting a predominant action of DMT on the transmodal association cortex rich in 5‑HT2A expression.

Published: March 20, 2023
Journal: PNAS
Authors: Alamia, A., Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D., Girn, M., Haridas, S., Kettner, H., Leech, R., Luan, L., Martell, J., Nutt, D. J., Pallavicini, C., Rosas, F. E., Roseman, L., Tagliazucchi, E., Timmermann, C.

Clinical Trials

10 trials

RecruitingPhase I

Direct Comparison of Altered States of Consciousness Induced by LSD, Psilocybin, and DMT in Healthy Participants (LPD)

This randomised, placebo-controlled, triple-blind Phase I crossover trial (n=24) will compare the acute and subacute effects of LSD (150µg), psilocybin (30mg), and DMT (up to 2 mg/min intravenous infusion) in healthy adults, with all sessions standardised using ketanserin (20 mg IV) to end the psychedelic experience after three hours.

Started: April 1, 2025
Type: interventional
Blinding: triple
Randomized: Yes
Registry ID: NCT06899334

RecruitingPhase I

Study of the Safety, Tolerability, Electrophysiological Effects and Efficacy of DMT in Humans (DMT-Bolus)

This Phase I, randomised, placebo-controlled, triple-masked, crossover design trial (n=60) will investigate the safety, tolerability, electrophysiological effects, and efficacy of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls.

Started: March 1, 2025
Type: interventional
Blinding: triple
Randomized: Yes
Registry ID: NCT06671977

RecruitingPhase I

Investigation of Psychedelic Effects in Psychoactive Substances

Triple-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects study (n=50) testing whether various psychoactive substances (psilocybin, ketamine, DXM, DMT, MDMA, THC) produce experiences similar to classic psychedelics across up to six single-dose sessions.

Started: February 5, 2025
Type: interventional
Blinding: triple
Randomized: Yes
Registry ID: NCT06772753

RecruitingPhase I

Acute Analgesic Effects of DMT on Experimentally Induced Pain in Healthy Participants

This randomised, triple-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial (n=18) will investigate the acute analgesic (anti-pain) effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on experimentally induced acute nociceptive pain, hyperalgesia, and allodynia in healthy participants.

Started: May 1, 2024
Type: interventional
Blinding: triple
Randomized: Yes
Registry ID: NCT06180759

CompletedPhase I

Acute Dose-dependent Effects of DMT-bolus Applications in Healthy Subjects (DMT BDR-Study) (DMT BDR)

Randomized crossover, Phase I healthy volunteer study (n=36) testing IV DMT boluses (5–25 mg range, with placebo) to establish dose–response for subjective and autonomic effects.

Started: March 15, 2023
Type: interventional
Blinding: triple
Randomized: Yes
Registry ID: NCT05695495

Active not recruitingPhase I

Single and Repeat Doses of DMT in Healthy Subjects

Double-blind trial (n=60) testing single ascending and repeated IV DMT infusions (bolus + 6-h infusion) in healthy volunteers to assess safety and tolerability.

Started: November 1, 2022
Type: interventional
Blinding: double
Randomized: Yes
Registry ID: NCT05559931

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Search all DMT papers Search all Neuroimaging & Brain Measures trials Full DMT profile Full Neuroimaging & Brain Measures profile

DMT for Neuroimaging & Brain Measures

DMT

Neuroimaging & Brain Measures

Academic Research

Meditation, psychedelics, and brain connectivity: A randomized controlled resting-state fMRI study of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmine in a meditation retreat

Resilience and Brain Changes in Long-Term Ayahuasca Users: Insights From Psychometric and fMRI Pattern Recognition

Transient destabilization of whole brain dynamics induced by N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)

DMT micro-phenomenology

Brain substates induced by DMT relate to sympathetic output and meaningfulness of the experience

Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI

Clinical Trials

Direct Comparison of Altered States of Consciousness Induced by LSD, Psilocybin, and DMT in Healthy Participants (LPD)

Study of the Safety, Tolerability, Electrophysiological Effects and Efficacy of DMT in Humans (DMT-Bolus)

Investigation of Psychedelic Effects in Psychoactive Substances

Acute Analgesic Effects of DMT on Experimentally Induced Pain in Healthy Participants

Acute Dose-dependent Effects of DMT-bolus Applications in Healthy Subjects (DMT BDR-Study) (DMT BDR)

Single and Repeat Doses of DMT in Healthy Subjects

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