What if We Could Peer Directly into the Brain During Profound Altered States of Consciousness?
- Sascha Kuhlmann
- Sep 19, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 9
Seven years ago, psychedelic researcher Martin Ball sat in a lab with electrodes on his head and inhaled 5-MeO-DMT. Neuroscientist Jeff Tarrant recorded what happened to his brain in real time. The result was one of the first detailed EEG maps of this compound's effects.
Since then, the research has expanded dramatically. Here is what we have learned.
The original study
Tarrant used a 19-channel electrode cap to capture Ball's brain activity during the experience. The data showed familiar patterns: delta, theta, alpha waves. And something unexpected: a massive surge in gamma waves.
The Default Mode Network
One significant finding involved the Default Mode Network. This brain region processes identity, self-comparison, judgment, memories, and future planning. It is the neurological home of the ego.
Previous research showed psychedelics shut down this network. The EEG data showed how it happens in real time.
The gamma wave findings
Gamma activity is associated with high-level information integration and flow states. In Ball's session, it progressed through three stages.
First, activity lateralized to the right hemisphere as the brain processed the intensity of the experience. Then gamma shifted to frontal regions during emotional release. Finally, it became symmetrical across temporal and occipital lobes, suggesting neurological integration.
The brain did not just shut off. It worked through layers of consciousness, emotion, and integration in real time.
What seven years of research added
The field has moved fast since Ball's session.
By 2023, Imperial College London published the most comprehensive brain imaging study of DMT, combining EEG and fMRI simultaneously. They found "global hyperconnectivity, collapsed hierarchical organization, and reduced intranetwork integrity." The patterns matched what Ball experienced.
Research on 5-MeO-DMT specifically confirmed distinctive "global alpha and posterior beta power reductions," validating the DMN shutdown. A 2024 study found that 5-MeO-DMT "radically reorganizes low-frequency flows of neural activity, causing them to become incoherent, heterogeneous, viscous, fleeting, nonrecurring."
Real-time biomarkers
One advance building on Ball's work has been identifying real-time EEG biomarkers. Retrospective questionnaires often fail to capture the nuanced experience. Researchers found that "real-time evaluations of subjective intensity and plasma levels robustly covary with changes in spectral power and complexity."
We now have objective, measurable ways to track psychedelic effects as they happen.
Clinical applications
Clinical trials using EEG to track psilocybin's antidepressant effects show that changes in theta brainwaves correlate with symptom improvement. This provides an EEG biomarker of sustained therapeutic effects.
Across multiple psychedelics, researchers consistently find increased "signal diversity," indicating more variable and unpredictable neural firing. This variability appears linked to neuroplasticity and therapeutic outcomes.
Long-term changes
Research comparing experienced psychedelic users to non-users found that experienced users show "higher levels of adaptive forms (reflectiveness) and lower levels of maladaptive forms (social anxiety and rumination) of self-related information processing."
The integration patterns Ball experienced may create lasting changes in how the brain processes self-referential thoughts.
What this adds up to
The picture from seven years of research is consistent:
Psychedelics disrupt maladaptive self-processing by temporarily shutting down Default Mode Network rumination. They increase neural plasticity through enhanced signal diversity. They promote real-time integration via dynamic gamma wave patterns. They create lasting changes through neuroplasticity mechanisms we are still mapping.
The challenge
Studying deeply personal experiences scientifically remains difficult. Ball described trying to surrender to the experience while remaining still for recording, balancing exploration with rigor. New methods like micro-phenomenological interviews and real-time neural feedback are beginning to bridge this gap.
Where it goes from here
Current research directions include clinical integration (exploring the relationship between acute EEG changes and clinical responses), precision medicine (using real-time biomarkers to optimize sessions), and consciousness mapping (combining EEG, fMRI, and advanced analysis to map awareness states from ego dissolution to mystical experience).
About the researchers
Martin W. Ball, Ph.D., is an author and educator known for work with 5-MeO-DMT. He coined the term "The God Molecule" in 2008. Website: martinball.net
Jeff Tarrant is a neuroscientist specializing in EEG research and psychedelic neuroscience.
Rak Razam is a filmmaker and researcher. Documentary: Aya: Awakenings Website: rakrazam.com
References
Timmermann et al. (2019). Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG. Scientific Reports.
Timmermann et al. (2023). Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI. PNAS.
Carhart-Harris et al. (2025). Exploring 5-MeO-DMT as a pharmacological model for deconstructed consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness.
Blackburne et al. (2024). Complex slow waves radically reorganise human brain dynamics under 5-MeO-DMT. bioRxiv.
Skosnik et al. (2023). Sub-acute effects of psilocybin on EEG correlates of neural plasticity in major depression. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Ermakova et al. (2022). A narrative synthesis of research with 5-MeO-DMT. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
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