University of San Diego receives US$1.5 million grant to research DMT effects
SAN DIEGO, CA – A US$1.5 million donation from Eugene Jhong would help launch a new research programme within the University of California, San Diego’s Psychedelic and Health Research Initiative to learn more about the biological and psychological effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in humans.
DMT is one of the most potent psychedelics known, and has been described as causing imaginative, dream-like visions. It is often consumed on its own or in ayahuasca, a ceremonial brew that indigenous cultures have used for centuries for spiritual and visionary purposes. Some have claimed it helped treat psychological ailments such as depression and addiction, promoting emotional well-being.
According to UC San Diego, the peak psychedelic effects of inhaled DMT dissipate within minutes. As part of the research supported by Jhong, the university’s research team will implement continuous intravenous DMT infusion protocols to capture what is known as the “extended state”.
The research is led by Fadel Zeidan, associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, and Jon Dean, postdoctoral fellow and director of the DMT Research Division at the university’s Psychedelic Health and Research Initiative. The study will attempt to map phenomenological, neurological and physiological responses to DMT during the longer time windows created with the infusion protocols.
“Our goals are to employ multimodal approaches to study the extended-state consciousness elucidated by DMT to better appreciate the nature of reality, as well as the role of endogenous DMT in the human body,” Dean said.
UC San Diego is currently the only university in the United States with a division dedicated to conducting extended-state DMT research. The study is part of the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative, soon to be renamed the Center for Psychedelic Research, a newly approved academic centre in the UC San Diego School of Medicine.