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Unlike other psychedelics that he had worked with, DMT showed nolessening of effect with repeated doses.

Dr. Strassman was drawn to DMT because it is made by our bodies and found throughout nature. Scientists have identified endogenous DMT in human blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. It is a tryptamine, which is a family of chemicals derived from the amino acid tryptophan that includes serotonin. Japanese researchers found that the brain pulls DMT through the blood-brain barrier and into its tissues ...as if DMT is necessary for maintaining normal brain function," Dr. Strassman notes.


The source of DMT in the human body has not been identified, but Dr. Strassman believes that it is made primarily by the pineal gland. The pineal gland makes serotonin, melatonin, and beta-carbolines. Beta-carbolines prevent the breakdown of DMT by monoamine oxidase. The presence of beta-carbolines in the South American shamanic botanical 'tea' ayahuasca keeps the DMT in the drink from being broken down by the MAO in the stomach. From the metaphysical perspective, the pineal gland is linked to the crown chakra and to spiritual development.
http://www.lightparty.com/Health/SpiritMolecule.html

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I guess the question would have to be posed..why does the "security system" of our brains readily welcome DMT so easily?  And why do we not develop a tolerance to it?  And what are the signifigant differences between DMT breaking that blood-brain barrier ..and other substances?

and thanks for the reading suggestions on your earlier post

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Article covering basics of the Pineal

The true function of this mysterious gland has long been contemplated by philosophers and Spiritual Adepts. Ancient Greeks believed the pineal gland to be our connection to the Realms of Thought. Descartes called it the Seat of the Soul. This gland is activated by Light, and it controls the various biorhythms of the body.

There is a pathway from the retinas to the hypothalamus called the retinohypothalamic tract. It brings information about light and dark cycles to a region of the hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). From the SCN, nerve impulses travel via the pineal nerve (sympathetic nervous system) to the pineal gland. These impulses inhibit the production of melatonin. When these impulses stop (at night, when light no longer stimulates the hypothalamus), pineal inhibition ceases and melatonin is released. The pineal gland is therefore a photosensitive organ and an important timekeeper for the human body.

Retinal research done with hamsters demonstrates another center for melatonin production. Located in the retina, this center implies that the eyes have their own built in circadian timepiece. This retinal system is distinct from the brains body clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
Biologists found that they could throw the retinal rhythms out of sync with other circadian cycles. They also found that they could set and reset the retinal clock even when the SCN was destroyed.

The retinal clock produces (stimulates the production of?) melatonin. Researchers are now looking for the exact location (s) of this clock in the human eye (and expect to find it). No one yet knows what the separate clock is for or how it relates to the SCN.

In some lower vertebrates the Epiphysis Cerebri - Pineal Gland - has a well-developed eye-like structure; in others though not organized as an eye, if functions as a light receptor. In lower vertebrates, the pineal gland has an eye like structure and it functions as a light receptor and is considered by some to be the evolutionary forerunner of the modern eye.
http://www.crystalinks.com/thirdeyepineal.html

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The pineal gland, or epiphysis, is a small endocrine gland located near the middle of the brain.

The pineal body is located above the superior colliculus and behind and beneath the stria medullaris, between the laterally positioned thalamic bodies. The pineal body is part of the epithalamus.

It is responsible for the production of melatonin, which has a role in circadian rhythm. Melatonin is a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan. The production of melatonin by the pineal gland is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. Light can be detected by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which has directs connections to the retina.

Fibers extends from SCN to the spinal cord into superior cervical ganglia and from there into the pineal gland.

It has been found that the pineal gland manufactures trace amounts for the psychedelic chemical, dimethyltryptamine, or DMT. The purpose of this endogeous chemical in the human brain is believed to play a role in dreaming and possibly near-death experiences and other mystical states. It has been suggested by the researcher Jace Callaway that DMT is connected with visual dreaming.
The pineal gland consists mainly of pinealocytes, but four other cell types have been identified: interstitial cells, perivascular phagocyte, pineal neurons and peptidergic neuron-like cells.

The pineal gland is a midline structure and is often seen in plain skull X-rays as it is often calcified.

It is occasionally referred to as the "third eye" in occult religions, and is believed by some to be a dormant organ that can be awakened to enable telepathic communication.

In fact ancient amphibians such as Ichthyostega, which existed in the Late Devonian Period, have an orifice on the top of the skull through which the pineal gland once was exposed and received light input. Over the course of time and for unknown reasons, the pineal migrated into the skull of later tetrapods and the skull orifice sealed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineal_gland

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DMT Tolerance Study

The last DMT study is an attempt to develop tolerance to repeated administrations of DMT at one sitting. All other psychedelics, in man, have demonstrated tolerance to repeated administration. Thus, LSD at the same dose every day for three days, prevents that originally active dose from having any effect on the fourth consecutive day. Several days drug-free are necessary to return to the previous level of sensitivity. DMT, administered twice a day (10 a.m. and 3 p.m.) for five days, in the only published human study that attempted to develop tolerance, demonstrated no tolerance. Animal studies have also given inconsistent results, with one study giving it every 2 hours for 21 days and finding only limited tolerance! Some animal studies have even suggested that sensitivity is increased depending on the timing and dose schedule. Finally, humans tolerant to LSD are not tolerant to DMT. Reports "from the field" are also not consistent. If any of you reading this have experience with repeated administration of DMT, I would be most interested in hearing about them.
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v03n4/03408dmt.html

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    Tolerance of the behavioral effects of the short-acting, endogenous hallucinogen, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is seen inconsistently in animals, and has not been produced in humans. The nature and time course of responses to repetitive, closely spaced administrations of an hallucinogenic dose of DMT were characterized. Thirteen experienced hallucinogen users received intravenous 0.3 mg/kg DMT fumarate, or saline placebo, four times, at 30 min intervals, on 2 separate days, in a randomized, double-blind, design. Tolerance to "psychedelic" subjective effects did not occur according to either clinical interview or Hallucinogen Rating Scale scores. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), prolactin, cortisol, and heart rate responses decreased with repeated DMT administration, although blood pressure did not. These data demonstrate the unique properties of DMT relative to other hallucinogens and underscore the differential regulation of the multiple processes mediating the effects of DMT.

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dmt/dmt_journal4.shtml

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psikooz said:
Dont doubt what you experience.

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Although I understand where you are coming from, this might not be a good phrase to carry around... everything must be open to questioning, even our own experiences, and especially our feelings.


Peace.

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psikooz said:
yeah good point, but still, doubt is good, but when it is real for you, when it carries into your everday life, dont doubt it.

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So, when I am going about my daily business.. driving to Wal-Mart, talking with my girlfriend, sitting on my computer, and all the while I hear this voice saying "I am the Lord, Jesus Christ, I command you to kill everyone in sight", and I also see him, and he appears so damn real..... should I throw my rational mind out the window and not doubt Jesus, since it is real for me and it carries into my everyday life?

I'm not trying to cut you down or anything, but things having the appearance of being real and appearing all the time in your life still need to be questioned, considered, doubted, scrutinized, and explored, as does everything. We are intellectual, thinking beings, we need to be on top of things. Thinking is what brings forth a deep understanding of reality, not believing without question what appears to be real.


Peace.

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Another awesome pineal gland fact: according to the tradition of the tibetan buddhists, a reincarnating soul enters the fetus on the 49th day of gestation, exactly the same day that the pineal gland first appears.

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fireworks_god said:
So, when I am going about my daily business.. driving to Wal-Mart, talking with my girlfriend, sitting on my computer, and all the while I hear this voice saying "I am the Lord, Jesus Christ, I command you to kill everyone in sight", and I also see him, and he appears so damn real..... should I throw my rational mind out the window and not doubt Jesus, since it is real for me and it carries into my everyday life?

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