Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT
Summary: 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a psychedelic drug known for its uniquely profound effects on consciousness; however, it remains unknown how it affects the brain. We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data of 29 healthy individuals before and after inhaling a high dose (...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Cell Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725008113 |
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| author | George Blackburne Rosalind G. McAlpine Marco Fabus Alberto Liardi Sunjeev K. Kamboj Pedro A.M. Mediano Jeremy I. Skipper |
| author_facet | George Blackburne Rosalind G. McAlpine Marco Fabus Alberto Liardi Sunjeev K. Kamboj Pedro A.M. Mediano Jeremy I. Skipper |
| author_sort | George Blackburne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a psychedelic drug known for its uniquely profound effects on consciousness; however, it remains unknown how it affects the brain. We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data of 29 healthy individuals before and after inhaling a high dose (12-mg) of vaporized synthetic 5-MeO-DMT. We replicate results from rodents showing amplified low-frequency oscillations but extend these findings by characterizing the complex organization of spatiotemporal fields of neural activity. We find that 5-MeO-DMT radically reorganizes low-frequency flows, causing them to become heterogeneous, viscous, and nonrecurring and to cease their travel forward and backward across the cortex. Further, we find a consequence of this reorganization in broadband activity, which exhibits more stable low-dimensional behavior with increased energy barriers for rapid global shifts. These findings provide a detailed empirical account of how 5-MeO-DMT sculpts human brain dynamics, revealing a set of atypical cortical slow-wave behaviors with significant implications for neuroscientific models of serotonergic psychedelics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e08b09cacdcf45ea8aa8c032a6b847e1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2211-1247 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cell Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-e08b09cacdcf45ea8aa8c032a6b847e12025-08-20T02:50:27ZengElsevierCell Reports2211-12472025-08-0144811604010.1016/j.celrep.2025.116040Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMTGeorge Blackburne0Rosalind G. McAlpine1Marco Fabus2Alberto Liardi3Sunjeev K. Kamboj4Pedro A.M. Mediano5Jeremy I. Skipper6Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK; Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK; Corresponding authorClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UKSchool of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKDepartment of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UKClinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UKDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK; Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UKDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UKSummary: 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a psychedelic drug known for its uniquely profound effects on consciousness; however, it remains unknown how it affects the brain. We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data of 29 healthy individuals before and after inhaling a high dose (12-mg) of vaporized synthetic 5-MeO-DMT. We replicate results from rodents showing amplified low-frequency oscillations but extend these findings by characterizing the complex organization of spatiotemporal fields of neural activity. We find that 5-MeO-DMT radically reorganizes low-frequency flows, causing them to become heterogeneous, viscous, and nonrecurring and to cease their travel forward and backward across the cortex. Further, we find a consequence of this reorganization in broadband activity, which exhibits more stable low-dimensional behavior with increased energy barriers for rapid global shifts. These findings provide a detailed empirical account of how 5-MeO-DMT sculpts human brain dynamics, revealing a set of atypical cortical slow-wave behaviors with significant implications for neuroscientific models of serotonergic psychedelics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725008113CP: Neuroscience |
| spellingShingle | George Blackburne Rosalind G. McAlpine Marco Fabus Alberto Liardi Sunjeev K. Kamboj Pedro A.M. Mediano Jeremy I. Skipper Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT Cell Reports CP: Neuroscience |
| title | Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT |
| title_full | Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT |
| title_fullStr | Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT |
| title_full_unstemmed | Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT |
| title_short | Complex slow waves in the human brain under 5-MeO-DMT |
| title_sort | complex slow waves in the human brain under 5 meo dmt |
| topic | CP: Neuroscience |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725008113 |
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