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As of this writing (May 1995) several of the original objectives of the proposed research have been met. The assessment of the possible long- term effects of hoasca teas in platelet serotonin receptors in members of the UDV has been completed by Dr. Jace Callaway and his colleagues at the University of Kuopio, Finland. The results, which have been published recently (Platelet serotonin uptake sites increased in drinkers of ayahuasca; J. C. Callaway, et al., Psychopharmacology 116:385-387, 1994) were unexpected, and hence, worthy of further investigation. The anomalous increase in the density of platelet serotonin uptake sites in long-term users was a surprising finding. While numerous psychotropic agents, as well as other treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy, are known to downregulate platelet serotonin receptors, no other pharmacological model, other than ayahuasca, has been demonstrated to increase uptake site density in platelets. The possible implications of this long-term effect, as well as the question of whether it reflects a similar effect occurring in the central nervous system, remains unclear. Dr. Callaway's investigations on the long-term effects of ayahuasca on other serotonin receptor sites in platelets are still in progress. Dr. Callaway and his colleagues are also working on the quantitative phytochemical analyses of the alkaloids present in various samples of hoasca teas and the source plants utilized in the making of hoasca. These studies, apart from their intrinsic interest, are also essential for the projected pharmacokinetic studies, as they will provide the baseline data needed to correlate the volume of tea administered to the volunteers, to the amount of active alkaloids in the test samples. Publication of their results is anticipated shortly.

Recent Biomedical Investigations of Ayahuasca

Although achieving some notoriety in North American literature through the popular press and the writings of William Burroughs and Allan Ginsberg (Burroughs and Ginsberg, 1963), the psychological and physiological phenomena induced by ayahuasca have received little or no rigorous study. Various travellers to the Amazon have reported their own first hand experiences with ayahuasca (Weil, 1980; Davis, 1996), while both formal and informal ethnographic narratives have excited the public imagination (Lamb, 1971; Luna and Amaringo, 1991). Interest in the exotic origins and effects of ayahuasca have attracted a steady stream of North American tourists, often enticed by articles and advertisements in popular and New Age magazines (Krajick, 1992; Ott, 1993). Concern over possible adverse health effects resulting from the use of ayahuasca by such naive travelers has recently been expressed by a noted authority on Mestizo ayahuasca use (Dobkin de Rios, 1994). These concerns are in marked contrast to testimonials of improved psychological and moral functioning by the adherents of the syncretic hoasca churches in Brasil.

The individuals who are attracted to the UDV seem to belong to a slightly more professional socio-economic class than those who join the Santo Daime. Of the approximately 7000 members of the UDV in Brasil, perhaps 5 - 10 % are medical professionals, among them physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, chiropracters, and homeopathic physicians. Most of these individuals are fully aware of the psychologically beneficial aspects of the practice, and evince a great interest in the scientific study of hoasca , including its botany, chemistry, and pharmacology. The medically educated members can discuss all of these aspects with a sophistication equal to that of any U.S.-trained physician, or other medical professional. At the same time they do have a genuine spiritual reverence for the hoasca tea and the experiences it evokes. The UDV places a high value on the search for scientific truth, and sees no conflict between science and religion; most members of the UDV express a strong interest in learning as much as possible about how the tea acts on the body and brain. As a result of this unique circumstance, the UDV presents an ideal context in which to conduct a biomedical investigation of the acute and long-term effects of hoasca /ayahuasca.

Due to a fortunate combination of circumstances, we were invited to conduct such a biomedical investigation of long-term hoasca drinkers by the Medical Studies section of the UDV (Centro de Estudos Medicos). This study, which was conducted by an international consortium of scientists from Brasil, the United States, and Finland, was financed through private donations to various non-profit sponsoring groups, notably Botanical Dimensions, which provided major funding, the Heffter Research Institute, and MAPS, (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies). Botanical Dimensions is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study and preservation of ethnomedically significant plants, and MAPS and the Heffter Research Institute are non-profit organizations dedicated to the investigation of the medical and therapeutic uses of psychedelic agents. The field phase of the study was conducted during the summer of 1993 at one of the oldest UDV temples, the Nucleo Caupari located in the Amazonian city of Manaus, Brasil. Subsequent laboratory investigations took place at the respective academic institutions of some of the principle investigators, including the Department of Psychiatry, Harbor UCLA Medical Center, the Department of Neurology, University of Miami School of Medicine, the Department of Psychiatry, University of Rio de Janeiro, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Amazonas Medical School, Manaus, and the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Kuopio, Finland.

Since this study was the first of its kind, there was virtually no pre-existing data on the objective measurement of the physical and psychological effects of ayahuasca in human subjects. As a result, this study was in some respects a pilot study; its primary objectives were modest, representing an effort to collect a basic body of data, without attempting to relate the findings to either possible detrimental effects of ayahuasca, or to possible therapeutic effects. The study had four major objectives:

- Assessment of Acute Psychological and Physiological Effects of Hoasca in Human Subjects
- Assessment of Serotonergic Functions in Long-term Users of Hoasca Tea
- Quantitative Determination of Active Constituents of Hoasca Teas in Plasma
- Quantitative Determination of Active Constituents of Hoasca Teas

Most of these objectives were achieved, and the results have been published in various peer-reviewed scientific journals (Grob, et al., 1996; Callaway, et al., 1994; Callaway, et al., 1996;. Callaway, et al., 1997) Some key findings are summarized briefly below.

Assessment of Acute and Long-term Psychological Effects of Hoasca Teas (Grob, et al., 1996)
The subjects in all of the studies consisted of a group of fifteen healthy, male volunteers, all of whom had belonged to the UDV for a minimum of ten years, and who ingested hoasca on average of once every two weeks, in the context of the UDV ritual. None of the subjects actively used tobacco, alcohol, or any drugs other than hoasca. For some comparative aspects of the study, a control group of fifteen age-matched males was also used; these individuals were recruited from among the friends and siblings of the volunteer subjects, and like them were local residents of Manaus having similar diets and socio-economic status. None of the control subjects were members of the UDV, and none had ever ingested hoasca tea.

The psychological assessments, administered to both groups, consisted of structured psychiatric diagnostic interviews, personality testing, and neuropsychological reviewuations. Measures administered to the UDV hoasca drinkers, but not to the hoasca-niave group, included semistructured and open-ended life story interviews, and a phenomenological assessment of the altered state elicited by hoasca, was quantified using the Hallucinogen Rating Scale developed by Dr. Rick Strassman in his work with DMT and psilocybin in human subjects (Strassman, et al., 1994).

The UDV volunteers showed significant differences from the hoasca-naive subjects in the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and the WHO-UCLA Auditory Verbal Learning Test. The TPQ assesses three general areas of behavior, viz., novelty-seeking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence. With respect to novelty-seeking behaviors, UDV members were found to have greater stoic rigidity vs exploratory excitability, greater regimentation vs disorderliness, and a trend toward greater reflection vs impulsivity; but there was no difference between the groups on the spectrum between reserve and extravagance. On the harm reduction scale, UDV subjects had significantly greater confidence vs fear of uncertainty, and trends toward greater gregariousness vs shyness, and greater optimism vs anticipatory worry. No significant differences were found between the two groups in criteria related to reward-dependence.

The fifteen UDV volunteers and the control subjects were also given the WHO-UCLA Auditory Learning Verbal Memory Test. Experimental subjects performed significantly better than controls on word recall tests. There was also a trend, though not statistically significant, for the UDV subjects to perform better than controls on number of words recalled, delayed recall, and words recalled after interference.

The Hallucinogen Rating Scale, developed by Strassman et. al (1994) for the phenomenological assessment of subjects given intravenous doses of DMT, was administered to the UDV volunteers only (since control subjects did not receive the drug). All of the clinical clusters on the HRS were in the mild end of the spectrum compared to intravenous DMT. The clusters for affect, intensity, cognition, and volition, were comparable to an intravenous DMT dose of 0.1 to 0.2 mg/kg, and the cluster for perception was comparable to 0.1 mg/kg intravenous DMT; the cluster for somatesthesia was less than the lowest dose of DMT measured by the scale, 0.05 mg/kg.

The most striking findings of the psychological assessment came from the structured diagnostic interviews, and the semi-structured open-ended life story interviews. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used for the structured diagnostic interview. None of the UDV subjects had a current psychiatric diagnosis, whereas two of the control subjects had an active diagnosis of alcohol misuse and hypochondriasis. Only one subject among the controls had a past psychiatric disorder that was no longer present; an alcohol misuse disorder that had remitted two years previously. However, prior to membership in the UDV, eleven of the UDV subjects had diagnoses of alcohol misuse disorders, two had had past major depressive disorders, four had past histories of drug misuse (cocaine and amphetamines), eleven were addicted to tobacco, and three had past phobic anxiety disorders. Five of the subjects with a history of alcoholism also had histories of violent behavior associated with binge drinking. All of these pathological diagnoses had remitted following entry into the UDV. All of the UDV subjects interviewed reported the subjective impression that their use of hoasca tea within the context of the UDV had led to improved mental and physical health, and significant improvements in interpersonal, work, and family interactions.

Assessment of Serotonergic Functions in Long-term Users of Hoasca (Callaway, et al., 1994)

Another objective of the study was to investigate whether long-term use of hoasca resulted in any identifiable "biochemical marker" that was correlated with hoasca consumption, particularly with respect to serotonergic functions, since the hoasca alkaloids primarily affect functions mediated by this neurotransmitter. Ideally, such a study could be carried out on post-mortem brains; since this was not possible, we settled on looking at serotonin transporter receptors in blood platelets, using [3H]-citalopram to label the receptors in binding assays. The up-or down regulation of peripheral platelet receptors is considered indicative of similar biochemical events occuring in the brain, although there is some controversy about the correlation between platelet receptor changes and changes in CNS receptors in patients receiving antidepressant medications (Stahl, 1977; Pletscher and Laubscher, 1980; Rotman, 1980);. However, platelet receptors were deemed suitable for the purposes of our study, as our objective was not to resolve this controversy but simply to determine if some kind of long-term biochemical marker could be identified. Neither did we postulate any conclusions about the possible "adverse" or "beneficial" implications of such a marker, if detected. We conducted the assays on platelets collected from the same group of 15 volunteers after they had abstained from consuming the tea for a period of one week. We also collected platelet specimens from the age-matched controls who were not hoasca drinkers. We were surprised to find a significant up-regulation in the density of the citalopram binding sites in the hoasca drinkers compared to control subjects. While the hoasca drinkers had a higher density of receptors, there was no change in the affinity of the receptors for the labelled citalopram. The significance of this finding, if any, is unclear. There is no other pharmacological agent which is known to cause a similar upregulation, although chronic administration of 5-HT uptake inhibitors has been reported to decrease both Bmax (the density of binding sites) and 5-HT transporter RNA in rats (Hrinda 1987; Lesch et al., 1993). Increases in Bmax for the uptake site in human platelets have been correlated with old age (Marazziti et al, 1989) and also to the dark phase of the circadian cycle in rabbits (Rocca et al., 1989). It has been speculated (Marazziti et al, 1989) that upregulation of 5-HT uptake sites in the aged may be related to the natural course of neuronal decline. Although our sample size was limited, we found no correlation with age, and the mean age of the sample was 38 years. Also, none of our subjects showed evidence of any neurological or psychiatric deficit. In fact, in view of their exceptionally healthy psychological profiles, one of the investigators speculated that perhaps the serotonergic upregulation is associated, not simply with age, but with "wisdom" -- a characteristic often found in the aged, and in many hoasca drinkers.

Another interesting self-experiment related to this finding was carried out by one of the investigators, Jace Callaway, following his return to Finland after the field phase of the study was completed. Dr. Callaway has access to Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT) scanning facilities in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Kuopio. Suspecting that the causative agent of the unexpected upregulation might be tetrahydroharmine (THH), Dr. Callaway took SPECT scans of his own brain 5-HT uptake receptors prior to beginning a six week course of daily dosing with tetrahydroharmine, repeating the scan after the treatment period. He did indeed find that the density of central 5-HT receptors in the prefrontal cortex had increased; when he discontinued THH, their density gradually returned to previous levels over the course of several weeks. While this experiment only had one subject, if it is indicative of a general effect of THH that can be replicated and confirmed, the implications are potentially significant. A severe deficit of 5-HT uptake sites in the frontal cortex has been found to be correlated with aggressive disorders in violent alcoholics; if THH is able to specifically reverse this deficit, it may have applications in the treatment of this syndrome. These findings are especially interesting when viewed in the context of the psychological data collected in the hoasca study (Grob, et al., 1996). The majority of the subjects had had a previous history of alcoholism, and many had displayed violent behavior in the years prior to joining the UDV; virtually all attributed their recovery and change in behavior to their use of hoasca tea in the UDV rituals. While it can be argued that their reformation was due to the supportive social and psychological environment found within the UDV, the finding of this long-term change in precisely the serotonin system that is deficient in violent alcoholism, argues that biochemical factors may also play a role

Assessment of the Acute Physiological Effects of Hoasca Tea (Callaway, et al., 1997)

The major focus of the biochemical and physiological measurements carried out for the study was on the acute effects subsequent to consuming hoasca tea. One of the objectives was simply to measure the effects of hoasca on standard physiological functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and pupillary diameter, subsequent to ingestion. We found that all of these responses were well within normal parameters. Hoasca, not surprisingly, caused an increase in pupillary diameter from baseline (pre-dose) levels of 3.7 mm to approximately 4.7 mm at 40 minutes, which continued to 240 minutes after ingestion at which point measurements were discontinued. Breaths per minute fluctuated throughout the 240 minutes, from a low of 18.5 at baseline to a high of 23 breaths per minute at 100 minutes. Temperature rose from a baseline low of 37 ° C at baseline to a high of 37.3 ° C at 240 min (although the ambient temperature also increased comparably during the course of the experiments, which were conducted from 10:00 - 16:00). Heartrate increased from 71.9 bpm at baseline to a maximum of 79.3 bpm by 20 minutes, decreased to 64.5 bpm by 120 minutes, then gradually returned toward basal levels by 240 minutes. There was a concomitant increase in blood pressure; both systolic and diastolic pressure increased to maxima at 40 minutes (137.3 and 92.0 mm Hg respectively) over baseline values (126.3 and 82.7 mm Hg respectively) and returned to basal values by 180 minutes. We also measured nueroendocrine response for plasma prolactin, cortisol, and growth hormone; all showed rapid and dramatic increases over basal values from 60 minutes (cortisol) to 90 minutes (growth hormone) to 120 minutes (prolactin) after ingestion. The observed response, typical of serotonergic agonists, are comparable to the values reported by Strassman & Qualls (1994) in response to injected DMT. In our study, however, the response to oral DMT was delayed by a factor of four or five. Dr. Russell Poland, of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, carried out the neuroendocrine measurements.

I snakker om kvantiitet om at LSD er mere potent og påvirker flere receptore og giver dopamin virkning på comedown osv

Jeg snakker om kvalitet

OG der er DMT langt overlegent

Jeg snakker ikke om noget med at det lagre sig

Jeg snakker om at (5-Meo-)DMT og Pinolin interaktere med DNA og RNA

Og så ville det også være rimeligt at antage at LSD måske havde en lignende virkning, men eftersom LSD ikke er naturligt iforhold til menneske kroppen kunne den have en anormaliserende effekt.

Psykologisk snakker mange brugere om langtidsvirkninger som blandt andet er angstrelateret

We were surprised to find a significant up-regulation in the density of the citalopram binding sites in the hoasca drinkers compared to control subjects. While the hoasca drinkers had a higher density of receptors, there was no change in the affinity of the receptors for the labelled citalopram. The significance of this finding, if any, is unclear. There is no other pharmacological agent which is known to cause a similar upregulation, although chronic administration of 5-HT uptake inhibitors has been reported to decrease both Bmax (the density of binding sites) and 5-HT transporter RNA in rats (Hrinda 1987; Lesch et al., 1993)

Og så ville det også være rimeligt at antage at LSD måske havde en lignende virkning, men eftersom LSD ikke er naturligt iforhold til menneske kroppen kunne den have en anormaliserende effekt.

What has DMT and 5meoDMT have to do with this? Very Much: 5meoDMT & DMT act on the T-RNA messengers which carry out the protein synthesis for the DNA, or the rebuilding of our our body image and organs.

Unlike Serotonin, Pinoline momentarily looses its electrical resistence (superconduction), as it resonates with the superconducting DNA core (the very life seed that transduces the infra red from the vucuum, and hence our THOTONs as Thotickle particles, or Units of Consciousness). CAN YOU INTEGRATE THE IMPLICATIONS?

Vocalising the audible electron spin resonance sound made audible in this process, locks the Pinoline intercalating with the DNA, into place. Hence, superconductivity continously = limitless energy.

For anyone interested in neuro-chemistry, I would recommend reading pages 57-93 of the Invisible Landscape. I will attempt to summarise the most cogent points here. By the way... I would NOT recommend experimentation with any plants or chemicals except under laboratory conditions ,supervised by trained psychopharmacologists.)

Serotonin and its analogs, and beta-carbolines like Harmine work by bonding to DNA and RNA (the single-strand messenger molecule). This process is called intercalation, as the molecules of the compound bind "by interaction between the base pairs of the double helix, resulting in a partial unwinding of the helix in the region of the intercalated molecule".121

The bonding and de-bonding with rapid twisting and un-twisting of the RNA causes an oscillation within the electrical fields of the synapses, and gives off a signal - electron spin resonance - in tens of millions of synapses at once, resulting in a holographic effect, detected as thought or consciousness. The untwisting of the helixes acts as a shutter mechanism, allowing entry across the membrane and into the cell, of small molecules. At this point the harmine or one of its analogs, if it is in the system, would enter and bond with the neural DNA, amplifying the electron spin resonance. (ESR), making information from decoded portions of DNA available to consciousness. “Thus, a population using harmine or similar compounds in shamanic and religious practices, or an organism capable of synthesizing such highly reactive compounds internally, might well be afforded a tremendous evolutionary advantage , as it would possess an enhanced access to the informational gestalten of its own holographic genetic storage system.”122

It is suggested that "the pineal may be receptive to the ESR signals of other organisms as well as those of its owner". Such signals would be at radar or short-wave radio frequencies! These ideas are an intriguing explanation for telepathy and they need investigating.

The tryptamine buzz, it is theorized, could be caused by the ESR of the tryptamines metabolizing in the nervous system, somehow amplified to audible levels.

“We discovered that it was possible to closely imitate these tones with the voice by sounding harmonic vocal tones that quickly adjusted to the interior sounds as they moved from the audible into the ultrasonic range. Using this knowledge, it was possible to produce a vocal sound that seemed to amplify the harmonic tones perceivable inside the cranium. The vocal production of the sounds seems to rest on specific effects of the tryptamines on the motor nerves, particularly those governing the facial and vocal muscles. As with Ayahuasca, an interior sound is commonly heard, which quite often triggers a spontaneous burst of imitative vocalizing, MARKEDLY UNLIKE ANY CONVENTIONAL HUMAN SPEECH OR FACIAL CONTORTIONS. The tryptamines can apparently trigger a kind of rippling of facial muscles, which results in the production of a vocally modulated pressure wave.”123



Glossolalia



Here we have an emerging explanation for the glossolalia, or speaking in tongues achieved by the apostles, after being “filled with the Spirit”. If they had ingested some form of hallucinogen, as suggested by John Allegro in his book, “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross”124 (he suggested it was fly agaric, which contains muscarine and ibotenic acid), or they had become capable of “synthesizing such highly reactive compounds internally” (such as methoxytetrahydroharman. which, as I have mentioned, is “said to increase with spiritual development”; then perhaps they were producing this strange speech, while decoding information from their neural DNA, and transmitting it telepathically by electron spin resonance. There WERE visual and audible effects - the house was filled with a sound “like the rush of a mighty wind”, (Mckenna describes the buzzing as like ‘whistling wind and running water”)125, and they saw something that looked like “tongues of fire”; (Grant describes the effects of the third eye, stimulated by ‘kundalini energy”, as “the whole world looks illumined, aflame”).126

Some witnesses thought the apostles were intoxicated, but others understood them in their own languages. There were only 11 disciples (Acts 1,12), yet between 15 and 17 languages are mentioned (Acts 2, 7-11). Telepathy would explain that.

Philip K. Dick’s friend, bishop Jim Pike died of dehydration in the hostile desert environment near Qumran, on the Dead Sea, while searching the area for evidence that the “pre-Christian Cnristians” - Zadokites and Essenes - had access to hallucinogenic fungus. Dicks last book published in his lifetime - The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, was based on Jim Pike, and Dick’s feeling that his “invading intelligence” was at one point connected with Jim Pikes ghost.



The Approaching Mutation



Anyway, getting back to the vocally-modulated tryptamine buzz; it acts on the harmine like harmonics, by canceling the “charge transfer’, causing it to act like a superconductor.

“This superconductively-sustained and amplified resonation of the harmine-DNA macromolecule would excite the tryptamine-RNA complex into a sympathetic resonance frequency, causing it to act as a radio transmitter which would broadcast the coded information of the harmine-DNA superconducting sustainer circuit”127

This would manifest as standing waveform “of the entire resonating macromolecule’.128

The interference pattern would be set up by the tryptamine- RNA complexes triggered by thought, and when in phase with the harmine-DNA resonation, would create a holographic 3- dimensional image - an excerpt from the DNA memory bank. The tryptamine-RNA complex could also “function as an omnidirectional receiver for externally-modulated ESR frequencies” 129 - i.e. telepathy.

Finally, these bizarre strands of electro-chemico-neuro-information blend into the following startling conclusions:

“What we are suggesting on one level is that how conscious an organism is of the world that surrounds it may be fundamentally related to charge-transfer capacity of the endogenous DNA and RNA intercalators that the organism has evolved. Serotonin may be one of many possible resonant transmitters of the informational hologram that is stored in DNA. HARMINE, WE SUGGEST, MAY BE ANOTHEE, AND PERHAPS MORE EFFICIENT TRANSMITTER. Harmine may be more efficient precisely because it bonds more readily to DNA than to RNA. THE RISE IN LEVELS OF BETA-CARDOLINES SEEN IN PINEAL GLANDS AS ONE ASCENDS PRIMATE PHYLOGENY - WITH THE HIGHEST LEVELS OCCURING IN HOMO SAPIENS - lends credence to the idea that the adaptation called consciousness may involve mutation of the metabolic pathways associated with serotonin, other trypamines, and harmine. THE SHIFT OF EMPHASIS FROM SEROTONIN PATHWAYS TO BETA-CARBOLINE AND METHYLATED TRYPTAMINE PATHWAYS IS, WE SPECULATE, THE MOLECULAR EVOLUTIONARY EVENT THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INTIMAT IONS OF TRANSFIGURATION THAT HAVE RECENTLY CHARACTERISED MASS CONSCIOUSNESS.”130

When the ayahuasca is ingested the harmine analog will start to metabolize within the body. The ESR of the presensitized psilocybin circuit will immediately cancel the ESR of the harmine and cause it to bond superconductively to the DNA-RNA complex - It's basically about using these tryptamines and MAOIs and strange vocal phenomena to make psilocybin(or DMT or whatever) intercolate into the DNA, giving one complete access to the information stored in DNA. And all kinds of other stuff.