Natural+Production

Natural Production of Dimethyltryptamine

"Imagine suggesting that the body makes its own psychedelic drug." - Dr. Rick Strassman, in his book __DMT: The Spirit Molecule__ (DMT: A natural psychedelic created in your brain, N.D)

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a substance that can be made within an organism. When a substance is made within an organism, it is called an **endogenous** substance (endogenous meaning //"made within"//). This powerful **hallucinogen** is found within animals, humans (however, only traces), and plants; in fact, it has been known to exist within hallucinogenic Amazon plants (discovered in the 1940's and 50's). Endogenous DMT was first discovered in rodents, and later in humans. It was discovered that the formation of DMT in animals is similar to that in humans. (DMT: di-methyl-tryptamine, N.D.).
 * 1) Endogenous DMT synthesis begins with dietary tryptophan
 * 2) This goes through a number of steps before it becomes tryptamine
 * 3) An enzyme attaches two methyl groups to a nitrogen atom on the tryptamine
 * 4) The result is N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)!(DMT: di-methyl-tryptamine, N.D.).

DMT is closely related to the neurotransmitter **serotonin** and the pineal hormone **melatonin** (DMT: di-methyl-tryptamine, N.D.).

There are a lot of speculations that DMT is created in the **pineal gland** in the brain, and has often been called "The Spirit Gland." This gland is believed to be stimulated and release DMT during childbirth, sexual ecstasy, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and meditation. This speculation exists due to the fact that the pineal gland contains high levels of enzymes involved in the making of DMT (DMT: A natural psychedelic created in your brain., N.D.).

However, according to Dr. Rick Strassman, when talking about his book, __DMT: The Spirit Molecule__, he shed some light on the the speculations that DMT was produced in the pineal gland:

//"We don’t know whether DMT is made in the pineal; [...] we don’t know whether DMT rises during dreams, meditation, near-death, death//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 170%; text-align: center;">//, birth or any other endogenous altered state. To the extent those states resemble those brought on by giving DMT, it cert////ainly makes one wonder if endogenous DMT might be involved, and if it were, it would explain a lot. But we don’t know yet."// <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: right;">(DMT and the pineal gland, 2011).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 160%;">DMT is known to be present in the human body, as well as in animals; however, it is still a bit of a mystery as to where it develops in the human brain, and if endogenous DMT is involved in our natural endogenous states. There is currently no scientific evidence that the pineal gland produces human DMT. Maybe someday there will be evidence to support this speculation; however, that day has not yet arrived. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: right;">(Hanna, J, 2010). <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">Terms:
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Endogenous: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">made within.
 * **Hallucinogen:** produces profound alterations in perception.
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Synthesis: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">the formation of a chemical compound (Hart, Ksir, & Ray, 2009).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**Serotonin:** a neurotransmitter found in the raphe nuclei that might be important for impulsiveness and depression (Hart, & Ksir, & Ray, 2009).
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Melatonin: **a hormone secreted by the pineal gland; regulates hormones and the body's circadian rhythm (Melatonin, 2011).
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pineal Gland :** a pine cone shaped gland of the endocrine system; produces several important hormones including melatonin (Bailey, 2011).

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 170%;">References:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Bailey, R. Pineal Gland. (2011). About.com Biology. Retrieved October 21st, 2011 from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span class="wiki_link_ext"> []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">DMT and the pineal gland. (2011). Count your culture. Retrieved October 19th, 2011 from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">DMT: A natural psychedelic created in your brain. (N.D). Retrieved October 19th, 2011 from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">DMT: di-methyl-tryptamine. (N.D.) Retrieved October 19th, 2011 from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">[|http://thespiritmolecule.com/html/resources.php#]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Hanna, J. (2010). DMT and the pineal: fact or fiction? The vaults of Erowid. Retrieved November 7th, 2011 from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Hart, C.L., & Ksir, C., & Ray, O. __Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior.__ (2009). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Melatonin. (2011). University of Maryland medical center. Retrieved November 7th, 2011 from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> []media type="custom" key="11435866"