Timmermann Christopher, Roseman Leor, Williams Luke, Erritzoe David, Martial Charlotte, Cassol Héléna, Laureys Steven, Nutt David, Carhart-Harris Robin
Psychedelic Research Group, Centre for Psychiatry, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
The Computational, Cognitive & Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2018 Aug 15;9:1424. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01424. eCollection 2018.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are complex subjective experiences, which have been previously associated with the psychedelic experience and more specifically with the experience induced by the potent serotonergic, ,-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Potential similarities between both subjective states have been noted previously, including the subjective feeling of transcending one's body and entering an alternative realm, perceiving and communicating with sentient 'entities' and themes related to death and dying. In this within-subjects placebo-controled study we aimed to test the similarities between the DMT state and NDEs, by administering DMT and placebo to 13 healthy participants, who then completed a validated and widely used measure of NDEs. Results revealed significant increases in phenomenological features associated with the NDE, following DMT administration compared to placebo. Also, we found significant relationships between the NDE scores and DMT-induced ego-dissolution and mystical-type experiences, as well as a significant association between NDE scores and baseline trait 'absorption' and delusional ideation measured at baseline. Furthermore, we found a significant overlap in nearly all of the NDE phenomenological features when comparing DMT-induced NDEs with a matched group of 'actual' NDE experiencers. These results reveal a striking similarity between these states that warrants further investigation.
濒死体验（NDEs）是复杂的主观体验，此前已被认为与迷幻体验有关，更具体地说，与强效血清素能物质N，N-二甲基色胺（DMT）诱发的体验有关。此前已注意到这两种主观状态之间的潜在相似性，包括超越自身身体并进入另一个领域的主观感受、感知有感知能力的“实体”并与之交流，以及与死亡和临终相关的主题。在这项受试者内安慰剂对照研究中，我们旨在通过给13名健康参与者服用DMT和安慰剂来测试DMT状态与濒死体验之间的相似性，这些参与者随后完成了一项经过验证且广泛使用的濒死体验测量。结果显示，与安慰剂相比，服用DMT后与濒死体验相关的现象学特征显著增加。此外，我们发现濒死体验得分与DMT诱发的自我解体和神秘主义类型体验之间存在显著关系，以及濒死体验得分与基线特征“专注度”和基线时测量的妄想观念之间存在显著关联。此外，当将DMT诱发的濒死体验与一组匹配的“实际”濒死体验者进行比较时，我们发现几乎所有濒死体验的现象学特征都有显著重叠。这些结果揭示了这些状态之间惊人的相似性，值得进一步研究。
