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Comment by stef25 | Hacker News Reader

Very interesting. I wonder if there's a link between melatonin production in the pineal gland (affected by visual perceptions of light) and endogenous DMT, also suspected of being produced in the pineal (see Rick Strassman's work)

For a long time endogenous DMT, or some other endogenous psychoactive compound, was suspected of being a cause of schizophrenia. I think it's largely discredited by now anyway.

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The endogenous psychoactive idea is fascinating. My friend called me during a psychosis, and I was convinced he was having a really bad psilocybin trip.

Modern research has actually found closer ties between psychosis and a different psychoactive compound: dynorphin[1]. In terms of recreational drugs, this is the neurotransmitter responsible for a salvia trip.

From an outside standpoint, this makes more sense than the classical psychedelics. Unlike LSD or psilocybin, salvia hallucinations usually result in a total disconnect from reality, and the user is often rendered catatonic like in severe cases of schizophrenia.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632231...

I remember some of the first time I did salvia. I was sitting on a couch at the end of a room, and I looked up at the corner of the ceiling, where the ceiling met two walls. Then I looked back at the people I was sitting with, but all I could see was the corner of the ceiling, where the ceiling met two walls. Then after... seconds? A minute? An hour? I could see normally again, but the room I was in began to move backward. It detached from an enormous wall, where it was revealed to be one of an infinite grid of identical rooms.

I don't remember the rest. Apparently all I did the whole time was stare with a blank expression for five minutes.

Salvia. It's powerful stuff!

A neverending salvia trip... I would not wish it upon my worst enemy.

>Unlike LSD or psilocybin salvia hallucinations salvia . . . user is often rendered catatonic.

Woah! Granted I’ve see only seen a handful of people use it, but it’s the only drug which I seriously worry about it causing agitation/frenzy so severe as to induce outward violence.

Doesn't psilocybin work by overloading serotonin receptors in the brain? Seems like you could achieve that without DMT.

It's interesting that in the study they described, performed on blindfolded people, that their descriptions have similarities to the DMT experience:

>>> One subject, a 29-year-old woman, saw a green face with big eyes when she was standing in front of where she knew there was a mirror—though she couldn’t see it. Another 24-year-old man, by the end of the second day, was having difficulty walking because of all the hallucinations that appeared to be in his way. He reported seeing "mounds of pebbles, or small stones...and between them was running a small stream of water." By the end of the study, he reported seeing "ornate buildings of white-green marble" and "cartoon-like figures."

EDIT - Too late to edit my original post, I should correct myself and say the theory has not been discredited (according to Dr Strassman himself)

Melatonin is broken up by sunlight exposure through the eyes, perhaps endogenous DMT might be impacted in a similar way?

the discordianists were right

> *THE PINEAL GLAND is where each and every one of us can talk to Eris. If you have trouble activating your Pineal, then try the appendix which does almost as well. Reference: DOGMA I, METAPHYSICS #3, "The Indoctrine of the Pineal Gland"

DMT, you say?

It's entirely possible. My friend Jamie has a video about that.

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