THE DMT ATLAS
By the numbers — the evidence spine
Every hard figure in the Atlas, with its study and its caveats: survey percentages, sample sizes, EEG findings, frequency counts. Real numbers from named studies only — no invented statistics.
| Claim | Figure | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Largest survey of DMT entity encounters | N = 2,561 respondents (mean age ~32; ~77% male) | Johns Hopkins online survey of the single most memorable inhaled-DMT entity encounter. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Top entity descriptors chosen | guide 43% · spirit 39% · alien 39% · helper 34% (also 'being') | Most-selected labels for the entity. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Entity rated benevolent | ~78% (vs <15% malicious) | Dominant emotions love, kindness, joy; ~70% rated the entity 'sacred.' Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Felt fear at some point during the encounter | 41% | Despite the benevolent majority — the realm is not uniformly safe. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Said the encounter altered their fundamental conception of reality | ~80% | And ~72% believed the entity continued to exist after the experience. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Prior atheists who no longer identified as atheist afterward | >50% | A durable shift toward belief in a higher power. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Content analysis corpus (the percentage backbone) | 3,778 experiences from 3,305 r/DMT posts (2009–2018) | Lawrence et al., Scientific Reports. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Entity encounters across all inhaled-DMT reports | 45.5% | Of 3,778 experiences. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Most common entity phenotype — the feminine/Goddess | 24.2% | More common than any other type — and far more than 'machine elves.' Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Deities | 17.0% | Second most common entity phenotype. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Aliens | 16.3% | Entity phenotype. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Creature-based entities (reptilian + insectoid) | 9.2% | Entity phenotype. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Mythological beings (incl. machine elves) | 8.4% | The 'machine elf' category is a minority — its fame outruns its rate. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Jesters | 6.5% | Entity phenotype. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| An alternate / higher dimension ('hyperspace') | 25.2% (hyperspace specifically ~17.1%) | Realm content. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| A room-like space (the 'waiting room' specifically) | 15.4% rooms; 2.8% 'waiting room' | Robust as a category, far rarer by the exact label. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| A void | 6.2% | White, golden, or black. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| A tunnel-type structure | 10.3% | Realm/transit content. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Fractals, geometric shapes & patterns | 32.6% | Including kaleidoscopes and mandalas. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| An auditory ringing ('carrier wave') | 15.4% | Buzzing/humming/high-pitched tone. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Used the literal phrase 'more real than everyday reality' | 0.6% | The FEELING is near-universal; the exact wording is rare — don't over-read the number. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Mystical-type experience | 71.4% | Of the report set. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Naturalistic field study — encountered sentient beings | 94% (34 of 36) | Breakthrough-dose inhaled DMT (mean 54.5 mg). Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Field study — emerged into a qualitatively different space | 100% (36 of 36) | Every participant. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Field study — broke through a veil/membrane | 22% | A distinct arrival into a different environment in 58%. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Field study — entity demeanor charming/inviting vs fearsome | 56% charming vs 8% fearsome | Benevolence dominates, menace is the minority. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| 'Machine elves' as a specific description | ~2.9% (149 Erowid reports) | The iconic term is statistically rare; 'robot/machine entity' (~6.7%) is actually more common. Jennifer A. Lyke (Stockton University) (2019) |
| Estimated share who see the specific McKenna-style beings | ~10% | Timmermann's estimate; the recurrence is 'overstated' by McKenna's fame. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| DMT reproduces the near-death-experience profile | significant overlap on the Greyson NDE scale | Placebo-controlled comparison vs matched real-NDE reports. Timmermann, Roseman, Williams, Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2018) |
| But the signature NDE content is rare in DMT | deceased family ~2% · deceased friends ~1% · life-review ~6% | The honest disanalogy — quintessential in NDEs, least common in DMT. Michael, Luke et al. (2025) |
| Strassman's clinical study scale | ~60 volunteers, ~400 doses (UNM, 1990–1995) | About half of high-dose sessions involved being-contact. Rick Strassman, M.D. (2001) |
| Early archive of internet trip reports mentioning entities | 226 of 340 (~66%) | Peter Meyer; argued the cross-report consistency makes them 'intersubjectively verifiable.' Peter Meyer (2005) |
| In the Meyer/Pup corpus, roughly two-thirds of DMT accounts explicitly report interacting entities | 226 of 340 reports (66%) marked 'entities' | A report was tagged 'entities' only if it described one or more apparently independently-existing beings interacting intelligently/intentionally with the observer; near-universal mention of intense color and fractal geometry across the set. Peter Meyer (compiler); source reports compiled by 'Pup' (2010) |
| Naturalistic-observation DMT reports almost universally describe emerging into 'other worlds' and very frequently 'beings' | 94% contained encounters with beings; 100% described emerging into other worlds | Michael, Luke & Robinson 'An Encounter With the Other' (2021), thematic/content analysis of observed real-world DMT sessions. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Vaporized DMT doses used in the Michael/Luke/Robinson naturalistic field study | 40-75 mg vaporized, mean 54.5 mg | Doses self-administered by participants in settings of their choice; 'An Encounter with the Self' analyzed self- and emotion-related themes. Pascal Michael, David Luke, Oliver Robinson (2023) |
| Content analysis of online DMT trip reports for entity descriptions | 149 reports (90% male, mean age 25), 180 total entity encounters, 2009-2019 | Lyke's descriptive taxonomy of entity appearance/behavior drawn from published online accounts. Jennifer A. Lyke (Stockton University) (2019) |
| Large international survey of DMT breakthrough entity encounters | 2,561 respondents reporting an 'encounter' after a breakthrough inhaled DMT dose | Davis et al. (2020) — most respondents rated the encounter among the most meaningful experiences of their lives and many believed the entity continued to exist after. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Following a subjective 'God encounter' experience, self-reported atheism dropped sharply | atheism fell from 21% to 8% of the sample after the experience | 4,285 respondents across 5 groups (non-drug 809, psilocybin 1,184, LSD 1,251, ayahuasca 435, DMT 606); non-drug group picked 'God' as best descriptor while psychedelic groups picked 'Ultimate Reality'. Roland R. Griffiths, Ethan S. Hurwitz, Alan K. Davis, Matthew W. Johnson, Robert Jesse (2019) |
| A single bolus of DMT produces effects too short to study or work with therapeutically, motivating infusion | peak/total effects last under ~20 minutes | Gallimore & Strassman proposed target-controlled IV infusion (borrowed from anesthesiology) to hold brain DMT steady and prolong the immersive state. Andrew R. Gallimore & Rick J. Strassman (2016) |
| Extended-state DMT (DMTx) infusion was safe and physiologically stable in the first pilot | 28 healthy volunteers; ~30 min continuous IV; heart rate habituated within ~15 min; anxiety stayed low | Imperial College pilot (single-blind, placebo-controlled, five dose levels), 256-channel EEG + plasma DMT measured; peak effects sustained across the infusion. Lisa X. Luan, Emma Eckernäs, Michael Ashton, Christopher Timmermann, David Nutt, Robin Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2023) |
| DMT reshapes the brain's dominant travelling-wave direction | decreased alpha/beta (13-30 Hz) power; top-down alpha waves down, bottom-up forward waves up; increased signal diversity | First EEG study of pure DMT on ongoing activity; supports 'reduced precision-weighting of priors' as a mechanism for the vividness of the DMT world. Andrea Alamia, Christopher Timmermann, David Nutt, Rufin VanRullen, Robin Carhart-Harris (2020) |
| Endogenous DMT is released in mammalian brain at neurotransmitter-scale concentrations | rat cortical extracellular DMT comparable to serotonin/monoamines; rises further after cardiac arrest | Present with or without the pineal gland, undercutting 'pineal-only' claims; function in humans remains unestablished. Jon G. Dean, Jimo Borjigin et al. (2019) |
| The 'pineal gland floods you with DMT' story is folklore; DMT synthesis is real but modest and not pineal-exclusive | INMT + AADC required; INMT transcripts found in cortex, pineal, and choroid plexus | Barker confirms DMT is a genuine endogenous compound detectable in blood/urine/CSF but rebuts the myth of large pineal DMT surges at birth/death. Steven A. Barker (2018) |
| The leading skeptical position holds DMT entities are hallucinations, not autonomous beings | framed as 'concrete', fully-immersive hallucinations from destabilized perceptual control | Kent's Psychedelic Information Theory (20+ years, 200+ references) explicitly denies DMT is a gateway to alternate dimensions or contact with independent elves/aliens — the honesty-charter counterweight. James L. Kent (2010) |
| A granular community taxonomy formalizes 'autonomous entity' as a defined subjective effect | 200+ catalogued subjective effects, indexed since 2011 | Josie Kins' Subjective Effect Index lists autonomous entities among high-level internal hallucinations alongside sceneries, landscapes, and all-encompassing geometry for DMT. Josie Kins (and contributors) (2011) |
| Hallucinogen experience narratives are, linguistically, closest to dream reports | highest semantic similarity to dreaming across a large multi-substance report database | NLP/latent-semantic analysis of thousands of Erowid Experience Vault reports (DMT/ayahuasca among the hallucinogens compared). Camila Sanz, Federico Zamberlan, Earth & Fire Erowid, Enzo Tagliazucchi (2018) |
| Comparative (non-DMT) benchmark for sustained high-dose visionary cosmology | 73 high-dose LSD sessions (500-600 µg) over 20 years (1979-1999) | Bache's single-subject record is adjacent (LSD, not DMT) but offered as a comparison case for recurrent entity/cosmic-consciousness phenomenology; author cautions strongly against replication. Christopher M. Bache (2019) |
| Davis 2020 breakthrough-DMT entity survey sample size | N = 2561 | Anonymous online survey of people who took a 'breakthrough' dose of inhaled N,N-DMT and encountered a seemingly autonomous being/entity; Johns Hopkins (Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson, Griffiths), J Psychopharmacol 2020. Recruited from >10,000 initial respondents. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Most common label used for the DMT entity was 'being' | 60% | Entity-descriptor breakdown, Davis 2020 (N=2561). 'Being' was the single most frequent label. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Other frequent DMT entity labels: guide / spirit / alien / helper | guide 43%, spirit 39%, alien 39%, helper 34% | Entity-descriptor breakdown, Davis 2020. Respondents could endorse multiple labels; more specific labels like 'elf' were far rarer than generic 'being/guide/helper'. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| DMT entity perceived as conscious | 96% | Attribute ratings of the encountered entity, Davis 2020 (N=2561). Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| DMT entity perceived as intelligent | 96% | Attribute ratings, Davis 2020. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| DMT entity perceived as benevolent | 78% | Attribute ratings, Davis 2020. Contrasts with only ~41% reporting any fear during the encounter. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| DMT entity perceived as sacred | 70% | Attribute ratings, Davis 2020. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| DMT entity perceived as having agency in the world | 54% | Attribute ratings, Davis 2020. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| DMT entity perceived as positively judgmental | 52% | Attribute ratings, Davis 2020. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Rated the DMT encounter as 'more real' than everyday waking consciousness | ≥65% | Davis 2020; majority labelled the experience as more real than everyday reality, a hallmark 'realer than real' finding. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Reported fear at some point during the DMT entity encounter | 41% | Davis 2020. Fear was the most common challenging emotion but was outweighed by love/kindness/joy, the most prominent emotions both felt and attributed to the entity. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Received a message, insight or directive from the DMT entity | 69% | Davis 2020. A separate 19% reported receiving a prediction about the future. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Believed the DMT entity continued to exist after the encounter ended | 72% | Davis 2020; respondents held the entity existed in this or another dimension after the experience. (Report only; the Atlas makes no metaphysical claim.) Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Self-identified atheists before vs after the DMT encounter | 28% before → 10% after | Davis 2020. More than half of respondents who identified as atheist before the experience no longer did so afterwards; the survey found significant increases in belief in ultimate reality / higher power / God / universal divinity. Reported belief shift only. Davis, Clifton, Weaver, Hurwitz, Johnson & Griffiths (Johns Hopkins) (2020) |
| Lawrence 2022 corpus of inhaled N,N-DMT experience reports analysed | 3778 experiences (from 3305 posts, 2009–2018) | Ten years of r/DMT Reddit posts, quantitative content analysis; Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths, Timmermann et al., Scientific Reports 2022;12:8562. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Entity encounters reported in the Lawrence 2022 DMT corpus | 45.5% (n = 1719) | Lawrence 2022. Encounter rate lower than in entity-selected surveys (Davis) because this corpus was not pre-screened for entity contact. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity phenotype: feminine | 24.2% (n = 416) | Most common single phenotype among entity encounters (n=1719) in Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity phenotype: deities / divine beings | 17.0% (n = 293) | Phenotype breakdown, Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity phenotype: aliens | 16.3% (n = 281) | Phenotype breakdown, Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity phenotype: creature-based (incl. reptilian, insectoid) | 9.2% (n = 158) | Phenotype breakdown, Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity phenotype: mythological beings (incl. 'machine elves') | 8.4% (n = 144) | Phenotype breakdown, Lawrence 2022. Notably low, contradicting the popular assumption that 'machine elves' dominate DMT encounters. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity phenotype: jesters / clowns | 6.5% (n = 112) | Phenotype breakdown, Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 entity interaction disposition: positive / benevolent vs guide/pedagogical vs negative | positive 34.9% (n=600); guide/companion 32.4% (n=557); negative 11.4% (n=196) | Interaction-type breakdown among entity encounters (n=1719), Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Lawrence 2022 most common non-entity content: somaesthesias and visualizations | somaesthesias 37.5% (n=1415); visualizations 32.6% (n=1231); statements of profundity 6.1% (n=232) | Thematic-domain frequencies across all 3778 experiences, Lawrence 2022. Lawrence, Carhart-Harris, Griffiths & Timmermann (2022) |
| Michael 2021 naturalistic field-study DMT reports involving an entity/'being' encounter | 94% (34 of 36) | 'An Encounter With the Other' (Michael, Luke, Robinson, Front Psychol 2021). 36 immediate post-experience interviews; screened experienced users, 40–75 mg inhaled (mean 54.5), 83% Caucasian, mean age 37.4. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Michael 2021 entity subtypes: otherly creatures vs sentient structures vs humans vs animals | otherly creatures 72% (26/36); sentient structures 25% (9/36); humans 17% (6/36); animals 11% (4/36) | Content-analysis frequencies, Michael 2021 field study. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Michael 2021 entity demeanour: charming/inviting vs benevolent vs mischievous vs fearsome | charming/inviting 56%; benevolent 28%; mischievous/jestful 14%; fearsome/menacing 8% | Demeanour breakdown (of 36), Michael 2021. Threatening tone was rare. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Michael 2021 interaction & communication with entities | helping/nurturing role 53%; showing/communing 47%; communication present 39%; explicit messages received 33% | Michael 2021 (of 36). 100% (36/36) reported experiencing 'other worlds'. Michael, Luke & Robinson (2021) |
| Michael 2025 naturalistic DMT reports containing at least one canonical NDE theme | 94% (34 of 36) | 'An encounter with death' (Michael, Luke, Robinson, Front Psychol 2025), comparing 36 DMT interviews with 34 matched NDE narratives. (Some secondary summaries cite 95%; the full-text figure is 34/36 = 94%.) Michael, Luke et al. (2025) |
| Michael 2025 individual NDE-feature prevalence in DMT reports | disembodiment 53% (19/36); translocation 33% (12/36); bright light(s) 25% (9/36); tunnel-like structures 28% (10/36); the void 11% (4/36) | Feature-by-feature content analysis, Michael 2025. Classic NDE motifs like life-review-like (6%) and deceased-family (6%) were rare in DMT. Michael, Luke et al. (2025) |
| Michael 2025 divergence between DMT and NDE phenomenology | 5 classical NDE features entirely absent from DMT; 39% (14/36) reported ≥1 less-typical NDE motif | Michael 2025 concludes DMT is 'NDE-mimetic' but qualitatively distinct (more kaleidoscopic, extraterrestrial, transcultural, overwhelming); DMT also showed many features absent from NDEs. Michael, Luke et al. (2025) |
| Strassman UNM DMT program scale (1990–1995) | ~60 volunteers, ~400 doses administered | University of New Mexico School of Medicine, first US human psychedelic study in a generation. Study-design fact, not dosing guidance. Rick Strassman, M.D. (2001) |
| Strassman dose-response study design (subjective-effects paper) | 12 volunteers; doses 0.05–0.4 mg/kg IV fumarate | Strassman & Qualls, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994 (Parts I & II). Reported here strictly as a historical study-administration fact, not as guidance. Rick Strassman, M.D. (2001) |
| Strassman's estimate of high-dose volunteers reporting contact with autonomous 'beings' | at least ~50% | Strassman (DMT: The Spirit Molecule) reported roughly half of high-dose (0.4 mg/kg) sessions involved encounters with seemingly independent entities; qualitative estimate, not a controlled frequency count. Rick Strassman, M.D. (2001) |
| Timmermann 2018 participants exceeding the Greyson NDE-scale threshold under DMT | 13 of 13 (100%) scored ≥ 7 | 'DMT Models the Near-Death Experience' (Front Psychol 2018). Within-subjects placebo-controlled, N=13; NDE cutoff is ≥7 of 32. Timmermann, Roseman, Williams, Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2018) |
| Timmermann 2018 DMT vs placebo on total Greyson NDE score | t = 10.91, df = 12, p = 1.39e-7, Cohen's d = 3.09 | Very large effect. Ego-dissolution similarly elevated (t=6.98, d=2.67). Timmermann 2018. Timmermann, Roseman, Williams, Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2018) |
| Timmermann 2018 overlap of DMT state with 'real' NDE reports | no significant difference on 15 of 16 NDE items, all 4 subscales, and total score | DMT scores compared against a matched group who had life-threatening-event NDEs (Greyson subscales: cognitive, affective, transcendental, paranormal). Timmermann 2018. Timmermann, Roseman, Williams, Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2018) |
| Timmermann 2019 EEG spectral changes under DMT | robust reduction of alpha (8–12 Hz) and beta power; increase in delta/theta at peak | 'Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG', Sci Rep 2019;9:16324, N=13, placebo-controlled. First study of pure DMT on spontaneous human brain activity. Timmermann, Roseman, Schartner, Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2019) |
| Timmermann 2019 signal-diversity / Lempel-Ziv complexity finding | significant increase in LZ complexity, tracking self-reported experience intensity | LZ complexity rose at the DMT peak and correlated with 'immersiveness' and visual-imagery ratings; consistent with the entropic-brain framework. Timmermann 2019. Timmermann, Roseman, Schartner, Carhart-Harris et al. (Imperial College) (2019) |
| Timmermann 2023 EEG-fMRI study of DMT: sample and dose | N = 20; 20 mg IV bolus vs placebo | 'Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI', PNAS 2023;120(13):e2218949120. Simultaneous EEG-fMRI before/during/after. Dose is a study-administration fact. Timmermann C, Roseman L, Haijen E, Carhart-Harris RL, et al. (2023) |
| Timmermann 2023 whole-brain fMRI signature of DMT | robust increase in global functional connectivity (GFC); network disintegration/desegregation; compression of the principal cortical gradient | GFC × subjective-intensity maps spatially correlated with independent PET-derived 5-HT2A receptor density maps. Timmermann 2023. Timmermann C, Roseman L, Haijen E, Carhart-Harris RL, et al. (2023) |
| Alamia 2020: DMT reverses the direction of cortical travelling waves | backward waves decreased (~0.47 → ~0.18 dB); forward waves increased (~0 → ~0.19 dB) | 'DMT alters cortical travelling waves', eLife 2020;9:e59784, N=13 (dose groups 7–20 mg IV). Effects peaked 2–5 min post-injection and faded by ~10 min. Andrea Alamia, Christopher Timmermann, David Nutt, Rufin VanRullen, Robin Carhart-Harris (2020) |
| Alamia 2020 alpha-band and slow-band Bayesian evidence under DMT | alpha reduction BF10 = 16.04; delta increase BF10 = 391.16; theta increase BF10 = 19.23 | Bayesian factors for spectral change, Alamia 2020. Alpha suppression is among the most reliable neurophysiological signatures of the psychedelic state. Andrea Alamia, Christopher Timmermann, David Nutt, Rufin VanRullen, Robin Carhart-Harris (2020) |
| Lyke 2019 Erowid DMT entity-report analysis: base rates | 149 reports (2006–2015); 75% described ≥1 entity; 180 total entities coded | Lyke (2019), Erowid trip-report content analysis; sample 90% male, mean age 24.6. 37% of reports described multiple entities. Jennifer A. Lyke (Stockton University) (2019) |
| Lyke 2019 entity-type frequencies | poorly-defined/formless 29%; humanoid 22%; divine 10%; aliens 8%; elves/fairies 7%; animals 6%; geometric/machine 6% | Lyke 2019. 'Machine elves' were among the least common phenotypes—most entities were amorphous or generic ('not everyone gets machine elves'). Jennifer A. Lyke (Stockton University) (2019) |
| Lyke 2019 entity-interaction frequencies | showing/teaching/guidance 25%; hostile 10%; no interaction 10%; warmth/love 9%; welcome/excitement 9% | Lyke 2019. Gender was specified in only 24% of entity descriptions, and when specified was more often female. Jennifer A. Lyke (Stockton University) (2019) |
| Sanz 2018 NLP corpus: hallucinogens rank highest in semantic similarity to dreaming | 165 substances compared; ANOVA of drug category on dream-similarity F = 31.34, p < 0.0001 | 'The Experience Elicited by Hallucinogens Presents the Highest Similarity to Dreaming...', Front Neurosci 2018;12:7. Semantic analysis of Erowid reports vs ~200,000 dream-journal reports. Camila Sanz, Federico Zamberlan, Earth & Fire Erowid, Enzo Tagliazucchi (2018) |
| Sanz 2018: where DMT ranked for dream-similarity | DMT ~#15 (high-lucidity) / ~#29 (low-lucidity) of 165; LSD ranked #1 | Sanz 2018. DMT high on similarity but exceeded by LSD and some deliriants (e.g., Datura ranked #1 for low-lucidity dreams). Camila Sanz, Federico Zamberlan, Earth & Fire Erowid, Enzo Tagliazucchi (2018) |
| Martial 2019 NLP: which drug's reports most resemble near-death experiences | ketamine ranked #1 of 165 substances; DMT ranked lower | 'Neurochemical models of near-death experiences', Conscious Cogn 2019;69:52–69. ~15,000 Erowid reports vs 625 NDE narratives; ketamine most similar, then Salvia, then serotonergic psychedelics incl. DMT. Tension with Timmermann 2018 (which frames DMT as an NDE model) — both included for the disagreement. Martial C, Cassol H, Charland-Verville V, ... Tagliazucchi E, Laureys S (2019) |
| Cakic 2010 Australian DMT user survey: route of use | n = 121; smoking 98.3%; ayahuasca 30.6% | Cakic, Potkonyak & Marshall, Drug Alcohol Depend 2010;111(1):30–37. Online survey of recreational users. Cakic V, Potkonyak J, Marshall A (2010) |
| Cakic 2010: reported effects and adverse experiences | increased psychospiritual insight (smoked) 75.5%; marked anxiety/stress 10.9% | Cakic 2010. Motives included general interest in hallucinogens (46.6%), curiosity about DMT (41.7%), possible psychotherapeutic benefit (31.1%). Adverse-effect rate reported for context only, not guidance. Cakic V, Potkonyak J, Marshall A (2010) |
| Winstock 2014 Global Drug Survey DMT prevalence | lifetime 8.9% (n = 1980); past-year 5.0% (n = 1123) | Winstock, Kaar & Borschmann, J Psychopharmacol 2014;28(1):49–54. Large global self-selected sample (~22,000). Winstock AR, Kaar S, Borschmann R (2014) |
| Winstock 2014: DMT abuse-liability / urge-to-use-more | 'urge to use more' = 1.3 (lowest of drugs compared) | Winstock 2014. Despite a very desirable effect profile, DMT showed the lowest urge to redose among compared drugs (e.g., ketamine ~3.0). Reported epidemiology only; no use guidance. Winstock AR, Kaar S, Borschmann R (2014) |
| Barsuglia 2018 5-MeO-DMT retreat study: complete mystical experience rate | 75% (15 of 20) had a 'complete' mystical experience; MEQ30 overall M = 4.17 (SD 0.64, 0–5 scale) | DISTINCT COMPOUND — 5-MeO-DMT (toad-derived), NOT N,N-DMT. Barsuglia et al., Front Psychol 2018;9:2459; n=20; intensity statistically comparable to a high-dose (30 mg/70 kg) lab psilocybin session. Included for cross-compound contrast. Barsuglia J, Davis AK, Palmer R, ... Griffiths RR (2018) |
| Cott & Rock 2008 early DMT phenomenology survey | 19 reports coded → 9 thematic categories; sample mean age 23, 95% male | Cott & Rock, J Sci Explor 2008. Themes: hallucinations, lucidity, affective distortions, ineffability, extreme intensity, spirituality, space-time/self distortion, familiarity, entering other realities inhabited by sentient beings. Cott C, Rock A (2008) |
| Luan 2024 first extended-state (continuous-infusion) DMT study: design | 11 volunteers; up to 4 dose levels; ~30-min bolus-plus-infusion; single-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects | 'Psychological and physiological effects of extended DMT', Luan, Eckernäs, ... Carhart-Harris, Timmermann, J Psychopharmacol 2024. Target-controlled-infusion concept from Gallimore & Strassman. Doses are study-administration facts. Luan LX, Eckernäs E, Ashton M, Rosas FE, ... Carhart-Harris RL, Timmermann C (2024) |
| Luan 2024 extended-DMT phenomenology and safety findings | entity encounters increased in the latter part of infusion; ego dissolution stayed minimal; short-term psychological tolerance; heart rate & anxiety stabilised to normal | Luan 2024. Subjective intensity plateaued while plasma DMT rose slightly (apparent habituation). No serious adverse events; supports feasibility of a sustained DMT state. Luan LX, Eckernäs E, Ashton M, Rosas FE, ... Carhart-Harris RL, Timmermann C (2024) |
| Gallimore & Strassman 2016 target-controlled-infusion model for a prolonged DMT state | modelled steady brain DMT via IV target-controlled infusion (TCI) | Gallimore & Strassman, Front Pharmacol 2016;7:211. Pharmacokinetic model (bolus + continuous infusion) later operationalised empirically by Luan 2024. Theoretical/modelling paper. Andrew R. Gallimore (2019) |
| QRI 'hyperbolic geometry of DMT' model (theory, not empirical measurement) | 6 dose-ordered phases; claims all 17 wallpaper symmetry groups (and up to 230 crystallographic space groups) can manifest | Qualia Research Institute (Gomez-Emilsson). Phases: threshold → chrysanthemum → 'magic eye' → waiting room → breakthrough → amnesia; posits phenomenal space acquires negative (hyperbolic) curvature that intensifies with dose. LABELLED AS SPECULATIVE THEORY — no metaphysical or measured curvature claim endorsed by the Atlas. Andrés Gómez Emilsson (Qualia Research Institute) (2016) |