Melatonin
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The pineal gland is located in the center of the brain. The pineal produces the hormone melatonin, an amino acid derivative. Melatonin is secreted in a daily rhythm, which in mammals is regulated by light entering the eyes. Thus the pineal itself contains photoreceptive cells, known as pinealocytes. Melatonin, a substrate converted from serotonin, secreted by the pineal may influence sleep-wake cycles. Darkness increases melatonin production and bright light inhibits it, and evidence suggests that melatonin secretion at night promotes sleep.
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Image by Fuelbottle on Wikimedia Commons
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Synthesis of Melatonin from Serotonin through two enzymatic steps. Image by H. Aksnes on Wikimedia Commons
DMT and Spirit
Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), despite its complex-sounding name, is a structurally simple chemical, derived from tryptophan, an amino acid present in food. DMT occurs in plants and animals and is part of the normal makeup of living things. DMT has been repeatedly observed in the tissues of the human lung, liver, as well as in blood and urine. Therefore, it is well established that humans produce what is one of the most powerful hallucinogens of all. Moreover, DMT is presumably created in the pineal gland, however this has yet to be verified. DMT is particularly abundant in plants of South America, and it is there that humans have explored its remarkable psychedelic and consciousness-expanding properties. In large doses, DMT blows open the doors of our normal perceptions to allow access to worlds beyond our imagination. Fantastic visions, out-of-body travel, near-death experiences, predictions of the future, and contact with the dead and extraterrestrial presences are all part of the DMT realm.
The most notable work so far has been Rick Straussman's investigation into what he calls "the spirit molecule." Such research is deemed important, not only for the light it shines on the nature of the human consciousness system, but also for the potential of these chemicals to help resolve deep psychological problems. His findings suggested that DMT provides regular, repeated, and reliable access to "other" realities, and these could be thought of something like TV channels. He then goes on to ask whether these other channels of existence are always present, "transmitting" all the time, but under normal circumstances are not perceptible.
DMT is the simplest of the tryptamine psychedelics and the smallest. It's the molecular size is only slightly greater than that of glucose. The brain, being a highly sensitive organ, possesses a nearly impenetrable shield, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents unwelcome chemicals from leaving the blood and entering brain tissue. Even complex carbohydrates and fats are kept out. However, DMT is one of the select number of chemicals that are actively taken into the brain. Once in the body or brain, it is rapidly consumed by enzymes. Straussman points out that the brain is acting almost if DMT is a "brain food" like glucose. All of this suggests that DMT is a highly significant part of our functional makeup, but what is it actually doing?
One of Straussman's conclusions is that a certain level of DMT is needed by the brain to keep it perceptually straight and narrow; that is, DMT acts as a "reality thermostat", keeping us within a narrow band of experience. Too much DMT and all manner of unusual visions and feelings appear. Too litter and our world dims and flattens. If our brains have suffered some degeneration over the last however many thousand years, perhaps our DMT levels are a little low.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that the pineal gland is the site of DMT production. The pineal gland contains the highest concentrations of serotonin in the body. This chemical is the raw material for melatonin and in all probability DMT as well. The pineal has the ability to turn serotonin into tryptamine, and it also contains high levels of methyltransferases - the enzymes that attach methyl groups to other molecules. These enzymes only have to do their job only twice to construct DMT. The pineal also makes beta-carbolines, and it is these compounds that inhibit the breakdown of serotonin and DMT by block the action of the body's monoamine oxidase (MAO), a key enzyme that regulates neurotransmitter activity by breaking down key neurotransmitters. Thus the pineal gland may not only produce DMT but also the chemicals that prolong its activity.
It is well established that melatonin synthesis in the pineal is "turned on" by the neurotransmitters noradrenaline and adrenaline. Further, it is also known that the adrenal glands produce these two neurotransmitters and release them into the bloodstream in response to stress. Thus stressful conditions could potentially upset pineal activity, particularly as the pineal exists outside the BBB and so should be responsive to blood-borne chemicals. Thus DMT, produced by the pineal and used in the brain and that overproduction, brought on by stress, can lead to strange experiences. DMT affects how we feel. Low doses have been found to bring on feelings of laughter and happiness, and a shortage of the chemical has been associated with depressed states. DMT may be acting in the brain, therefore, as some sort of regulator of consciousness.
The pineal has, in many cultures, been associated with spiritual experience. It has been called the "third eye". It is associated with internal light and spiritual illumination. So if stress can cause the pineal to produce DMT, can it's opposite, meditation, do likewise?
Meditation can affect pineal and brain activity by shifting the balance between the left and right hemispheres. Studies show that meditation, brain wave patterns are slower, and better organized than those produced during our ordinary state of consciousness. These brain wave patterns can lead to a deep state of bliss that can be felt throughout the whole body. Within the brain, these patterns may induce a resonance that could affect all our structures. It is possible that such a resonance within the pineal gland could weaken the barriers to DMT formation, resulting in a surge of the chemical that could become stronger as the meditation became deeper.
The most notable work so far has been Rick Straussman's investigation into what he calls "the spirit molecule." Such research is deemed important, not only for the light it shines on the nature of the human consciousness system, but also for the potential of these chemicals to help resolve deep psychological problems. His findings suggested that DMT provides regular, repeated, and reliable access to "other" realities, and these could be thought of something like TV channels. He then goes on to ask whether these other channels of existence are always present, "transmitting" all the time, but under normal circumstances are not perceptible.
DMT is the simplest of the tryptamine psychedelics and the smallest. It's the molecular size is only slightly greater than that of glucose. The brain, being a highly sensitive organ, possesses a nearly impenetrable shield, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents unwelcome chemicals from leaving the blood and entering brain tissue. Even complex carbohydrates and fats are kept out. However, DMT is one of the select number of chemicals that are actively taken into the brain. Once in the body or brain, it is rapidly consumed by enzymes. Straussman points out that the brain is acting almost if DMT is a "brain food" like glucose. All of this suggests that DMT is a highly significant part of our functional makeup, but what is it actually doing?
One of Straussman's conclusions is that a certain level of DMT is needed by the brain to keep it perceptually straight and narrow; that is, DMT acts as a "reality thermostat", keeping us within a narrow band of experience. Too much DMT and all manner of unusual visions and feelings appear. Too litter and our world dims and flattens. If our brains have suffered some degeneration over the last however many thousand years, perhaps our DMT levels are a little low.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that the pineal gland is the site of DMT production. The pineal gland contains the highest concentrations of serotonin in the body. This chemical is the raw material for melatonin and in all probability DMT as well. The pineal has the ability to turn serotonin into tryptamine, and it also contains high levels of methyltransferases - the enzymes that attach methyl groups to other molecules. These enzymes only have to do their job only twice to construct DMT. The pineal also makes beta-carbolines, and it is these compounds that inhibit the breakdown of serotonin and DMT by block the action of the body's monoamine oxidase (MAO), a key enzyme that regulates neurotransmitter activity by breaking down key neurotransmitters. Thus the pineal gland may not only produce DMT but also the chemicals that prolong its activity.
It is well established that melatonin synthesis in the pineal is "turned on" by the neurotransmitters noradrenaline and adrenaline. Further, it is also known that the adrenal glands produce these two neurotransmitters and release them into the bloodstream in response to stress. Thus stressful conditions could potentially upset pineal activity, particularly as the pineal exists outside the BBB and so should be responsive to blood-borne chemicals. Thus DMT, produced by the pineal and used in the brain and that overproduction, brought on by stress, can lead to strange experiences. DMT affects how we feel. Low doses have been found to bring on feelings of laughter and happiness, and a shortage of the chemical has been associated with depressed states. DMT may be acting in the brain, therefore, as some sort of regulator of consciousness.
The pineal has, in many cultures, been associated with spiritual experience. It has been called the "third eye". It is associated with internal light and spiritual illumination. So if stress can cause the pineal to produce DMT, can it's opposite, meditation, do likewise?
Meditation can affect pineal and brain activity by shifting the balance between the left and right hemispheres. Studies show that meditation, brain wave patterns are slower, and better organized than those produced during our ordinary state of consciousness. These brain wave patterns can lead to a deep state of bliss that can be felt throughout the whole body. Within the brain, these patterns may induce a resonance that could affect all our structures. It is possible that such a resonance within the pineal gland could weaken the barriers to DMT formation, resulting in a surge of the chemical that could become stronger as the meditation became deeper.
References
Audesirk, T., Audesirk, G. and Byers, B. (2011). Biology. 9th ed. Boston, Mass.: Benjamin Cummings.
Gynn, G. and Wright, T. (2014). Return to the brain of Eden. Rochester, Vermont.
Gynn, G. and Wright, T. (2014). Return to the brain of Eden. Rochester, Vermont.
