RedClover
Paranormal Novice
Greetings Paracast forum!
I would like to go out on a limb here and present my personal explanation for the abduction phenomena. I would like to say that this certainly does not explain UFO’s, multiple witnesses, and a variety of other issues. There is a plethora of strangeness in the world and it is my sincerest hope that it will one day be understood. Now..onto the discussion.
For those who would like the short version: People are having intense dreams.
That however didn’t satisfy my curiosity. For years I’ve been researching mystical states, OOBE’s and the like. It was only recently (mainly because of the Paracast actually) that I started looking into abduction issues as well. The Key is understanding how endogenous DMT works within the brain. Note: I am NOT talking about taking drugs. I am not speaking about anything that already is not present within one’s own system.
While listening to a presentation by Dennis McKenna, (Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota)
he described a possible mechanism of action for DMT. The question for researches of course is now that we know DMT is in our brains, what in the world is it doing there? Why aren’t people hallucinating all the time? What is the implication of this in psychosis?
Before I launch into what DMT might be doing in our brains, one needs to understand another
vitally important element. Monoamine oxidases, which from now on will be referred to as simply MAO’s.
MAO’s exist in the brain and body to break down potentially hazardous substances. One such example of a potentially deadly chemical would be Tyramine. Tyramine is present in all kinds of things from cheese to David’s beloved chocolate. If the MAO’s are compromised then Tyramine can even cause death. However, MAO’s don’t just break down foreign entities. MAO’s also breakdown things we find important. Such as Serotonin and Dopamine. MAO’s also breakdown (or keeps at a much lower range) DMT. Like many things, this is not a black and white issue. Too little MAO’s and a person could have dangerous health issues. Too many MAO’s and an individual would be suffering from serious depression (because once again it breaks down “happy” chemicals such as Serotonin and Dopamine).
It is for this reason that some psychiatrists prescribe MAOI’s (Monoamine oxidase inhibitors) to seriously depressed patients. However, because of the dietary restrictions (who doesn’t want to eat chocolate?!) SSRI’s (Prozac, Paxil etc.) are much more common.
The body also creates its own MAOI called Pinoline (which is a beta-Carboline in case anyone cares).
Now: What the heck is DMT doing in our bodies? And if it’s there, why are you not reading this in the company of aliens/gods/machine elves etc.
This is where Dr. Mckenna’s explanation comes into play.
Your body works in a variety of ways according to its surroundings. But the two versions that I am going to cover are quite simple. Daylight and Darkness.
In the waking hours it works something like this:
You eat some food (in this example we are going to use Turkey because it’s rich in Tryptophan which is a nice little precursor).
Ok..You eat some Turkey. Some of the Tryptophan is going to be converted to Serotonin. Some of it is going to be converted into DMT. Some of it is going to be converted into xyz. Most of that is going to be broken down by your MAO’s. Simple enough right? That’s the Daylight routine that your body is going through. I’m sure you know it’s more complicated, but for the sake of simplicity lets just leave it here.
Now lets turn to the Darkness:
Once the light around your body starts to decrease (and sure, circadian rhythms are involved as well)
your body changes the chemicals that it’s making...
That Tryptophan that turned into Serotonin is now from the Serotonin turning into Melatonin.
The Melatonin of course will make you fall asleep.
And the Melatonin will eventually...are you ready...turn into Pinoline! Remember Pinoline? It’s an MAOI. Which means...DMT level increases (or at least isn’t being broken down so much). And Poof! You’re dreaming.
Now it’s important to keep in mind that there is a balancing act going on here. It’s not like there is suddenly no DMT or suddenly no MAO’s. It’s that the levels keep changing. Just as your Serotonin levels are going up and down. And for that matter, everything else.
So, from this vantage point it is interesting to view the abduction issue. Lets say that for whatever reason (and there could be oodles) your Serotonin, MAO, DMT, or MAOI levels are wacky. Any one of those could result in a serious experience. Too much Serotonin could result in too much Melatonin would could result in too much Pinoline. Too much DMT could over come the MAO’s, (though if this were the case you could very well be put in an institution so I believe it’s rare).Also it’s important to note that this is just counting the MAO’s in your brain. You could eat truck loads of DMT and the MAO’s in your gut would destroy it. Too low of MAO’s would result in quite the experience if enough Tryptophan went into DMT production. At any rate, I think you’re getting the picture. Rocking the boat too much = hallucinations.
Which also goes a long way towards understanding various ritual acts (such as intense, prolonged dancing rituals) that result in “spiritual” episodes without the aid of any outside chemical concoction.
It is for this reason that I find looking at people who do consume DMT (and now I am talking about taking drugs) so interesting. At least when comparing them with people who have had endogenous DMT experiences.
Does this explain UFO’s? No. Does this explain every contact experience? No. Does this explain all of the high weirdness floating out there? Certainly not. But I do believe it’s relevant information and anyone who is investigating these topics should at least be aware of the “mechanics” of this subject.
Thanks for such a great forum, and to Gene and David, thank you for the show.
Cheers-
RedClover
I would like to go out on a limb here and present my personal explanation for the abduction phenomena. I would like to say that this certainly does not explain UFO’s, multiple witnesses, and a variety of other issues. There is a plethora of strangeness in the world and it is my sincerest hope that it will one day be understood. Now..onto the discussion.
For those who would like the short version: People are having intense dreams.
That however didn’t satisfy my curiosity. For years I’ve been researching mystical states, OOBE’s and the like. It was only recently (mainly because of the Paracast actually) that I started looking into abduction issues as well. The Key is understanding how endogenous DMT works within the brain. Note: I am NOT talking about taking drugs. I am not speaking about anything that already is not present within one’s own system.
While listening to a presentation by Dennis McKenna, (Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota)
he described a possible mechanism of action for DMT. The question for researches of course is now that we know DMT is in our brains, what in the world is it doing there? Why aren’t people hallucinating all the time? What is the implication of this in psychosis?
Before I launch into what DMT might be doing in our brains, one needs to understand another
vitally important element. Monoamine oxidases, which from now on will be referred to as simply MAO’s.
MAO’s exist in the brain and body to break down potentially hazardous substances. One such example of a potentially deadly chemical would be Tyramine. Tyramine is present in all kinds of things from cheese to David’s beloved chocolate. If the MAO’s are compromised then Tyramine can even cause death. However, MAO’s don’t just break down foreign entities. MAO’s also breakdown things we find important. Such as Serotonin and Dopamine. MAO’s also breakdown (or keeps at a much lower range) DMT. Like many things, this is not a black and white issue. Too little MAO’s and a person could have dangerous health issues. Too many MAO’s and an individual would be suffering from serious depression (because once again it breaks down “happy” chemicals such as Serotonin and Dopamine).
It is for this reason that some psychiatrists prescribe MAOI’s (Monoamine oxidase inhibitors) to seriously depressed patients. However, because of the dietary restrictions (who doesn’t want to eat chocolate?!) SSRI’s (Prozac, Paxil etc.) are much more common.
The body also creates its own MAOI called Pinoline (which is a beta-Carboline in case anyone cares).
Now: What the heck is DMT doing in our bodies? And if it’s there, why are you not reading this in the company of aliens/gods/machine elves etc.
This is where Dr. Mckenna’s explanation comes into play.
Your body works in a variety of ways according to its surroundings. But the two versions that I am going to cover are quite simple. Daylight and Darkness.
In the waking hours it works something like this:
You eat some food (in this example we are going to use Turkey because it’s rich in Tryptophan which is a nice little precursor).
Ok..You eat some Turkey. Some of the Tryptophan is going to be converted to Serotonin. Some of it is going to be converted into DMT. Some of it is going to be converted into xyz. Most of that is going to be broken down by your MAO’s. Simple enough right? That’s the Daylight routine that your body is going through. I’m sure you know it’s more complicated, but for the sake of simplicity lets just leave it here.
Now lets turn to the Darkness:
Once the light around your body starts to decrease (and sure, circadian rhythms are involved as well)
your body changes the chemicals that it’s making...
That Tryptophan that turned into Serotonin is now from the Serotonin turning into Melatonin.
The Melatonin of course will make you fall asleep.
And the Melatonin will eventually...are you ready...turn into Pinoline! Remember Pinoline? It’s an MAOI. Which means...DMT level increases (or at least isn’t being broken down so much). And Poof! You’re dreaming.
Now it’s important to keep in mind that there is a balancing act going on here. It’s not like there is suddenly no DMT or suddenly no MAO’s. It’s that the levels keep changing. Just as your Serotonin levels are going up and down. And for that matter, everything else.
So, from this vantage point it is interesting to view the abduction issue. Lets say that for whatever reason (and there could be oodles) your Serotonin, MAO, DMT, or MAOI levels are wacky. Any one of those could result in a serious experience. Too much Serotonin could result in too much Melatonin would could result in too much Pinoline. Too much DMT could over come the MAO’s, (though if this were the case you could very well be put in an institution so I believe it’s rare).Also it’s important to note that this is just counting the MAO’s in your brain. You could eat truck loads of DMT and the MAO’s in your gut would destroy it. Too low of MAO’s would result in quite the experience if enough Tryptophan went into DMT production. At any rate, I think you’re getting the picture. Rocking the boat too much = hallucinations.
Which also goes a long way towards understanding various ritual acts (such as intense, prolonged dancing rituals) that result in “spiritual” episodes without the aid of any outside chemical concoction.
It is for this reason that I find looking at people who do consume DMT (and now I am talking about taking drugs) so interesting. At least when comparing them with people who have had endogenous DMT experiences.
Does this explain UFO’s? No. Does this explain every contact experience? No. Does this explain all of the high weirdness floating out there? Certainly not. But I do believe it’s relevant information and anyone who is investigating these topics should at least be aware of the “mechanics” of this subject.
Thanks for such a great forum, and to Gene and David, thank you for the show.
Cheers-
RedClover