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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Ian Sample Science editor

Psychedelic brew ayahuasca’s profound impact revealed in brain scans

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan of a brain shows regions of increased connectivity on DMT. Connectivity rises from yellow to orange to red.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan of a brain shows regions of increased connectivity on DMT. Connectivity rises from yellow to orange to red. Photograph: Christopher Timmermann, Imperial College London

The brew is so potent that practitioners report not only powerful hallucinations, but near-death experiences, contact with higher-dimensional beings, and life-transforming voyages through alternative realities. Often before throwing up, or having trouble at the other end.

Now, scientists have gleaned deep insights of their own by monitoring the brain on DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, the psychedelic compound found in Psychotria viridis, the flowering shrub that is mashed up and boiled in the Amazonian drink, ayahuasca.

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