Inside the Mystical Mind: How Seven Years of EEG Psychedelic Research Revealed the Neuroscience of 5-MeO-DMT

Sascha Kuhlmann
Sep 19
6 min read

What if we could peer directly into the brain during one of the most profound altered states of consciousness known to humanity?

Seven years ago, this question led to a groundbreaking experiment that would help launch a revolution in consciousness research. Psychedelic researcher Martin Ball, Ph.D., underwent a real-time EEG brain scan while experiencing the effects of 5-MeO-DMT—often called "The God Molecule"—creating what may have been the first detailed neurological map of this powerful entheogenic journey.

What began as a pioneering single-subject study has since evolved into one of the most rapidly advancing fields in neuroscience, with sophisticated brain imaging revealing unprecedented insights into consciousness, therapeutic mechanisms, and the fundamental nature of human awareness.

The Pioneering Study That Started It All

In the original study conducted by neuroscientist Jeff Tarrant, Ball underwent real-time EEG monitoring using a sophisticated 19-channel electro cap system. Electrodes strategically placed across the scalp captured the brain's electrical activity—measured in microvolts—while specialized software cleaned and analyzed this neural data, breaking it down into familiar brainwave patterns: delta, theta, alpha, and the particularly intriguing gamma waves.

The Default Mode Network Discovery

One of the most significant aspects of this early research focused on the Default Mode Network (DMN)—a brain network that consumes significantly more energy than other regions and serves as the neurological home of the ego. The DMN processes our thoughts about identity, self-comparison, judgment, memories, and future planning.

Previous research had shown that psychedelic experiences consistently "shut down" this network, but the real-time EEG provided unprecedented detail about how this occurs.

The Gamma Wave Revolution

The most striking finding was the dramatic surge in gamma brainwave activity during Ball's experience. These waves, associated with high-level integration of information and flow states, showed a remarkable three-stage progression:

🧠 Initial Asymmetry: Strong lateralization to the right hemisphere as the brain processed the intense experience

💭 Emotional Integration: During emotional release, gamma activity shifted to frontal regions, suggesting active psychological processing

⚖️ Harmonic Balance: Most remarkably, gamma activity became beautifully balanced and symmetrical across temporal and occipital lobes—indicating complete neurological integration

This progression revealed that the brain doesn't simply "shut off" during 5-MeO-DMT experiences. Instead, it actively works through layers of consciousness, emotion, and integration in real-time.

Seven Years of Scientific of Psychedelic Research Breakthroughs

Since Ball's pioneering study, the field has exploded with discoveries that have both validated and expanded upon those early insights. The past seven years have brought unprecedented sophistication to our understanding of how psychedelics affect consciousness.

Revolutionary Imaging Technology

Advanced Multi-Modal Studies: By 2023, researchers at Imperial College London published the most comprehensive brain imaging study of DMT to date, using simultaneous EEG-fMRI to capture both electrical activity and blood flow changes. This revealed "global hyperconnectivity, collapsed hierarchical organization and reduced intranetwork integrity" that correlated perfectly with the EEG changes Ball experienced.

5-MeO-DMT's Unique Signature: Recent studies have confirmed that 5-MeO-DMT produces distinctive "global alpha and posterior beta power reductions," validating the DMN shutdown observed in the original study. Most remarkably, 2024 research discovered that 5-MeO-DMT "radically reorganises low-frequency flows of neural activity, causing them to become incoherent, heterogeneous, viscous, fleeting, nonrecurring, and to cease their typical travelling forwards and backwards across the cortex."

The Real-Time Biomarker Breakthrough

One of the most significant advances building on Ball's work has been the identification of real-time EEG biomarkers. While retrospective questionnaires often failed 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."

This means we now have objective, measurable ways to track psychedelic effects as they happen—exactly what Tarrant and Ball pioneered in their original study.

Clinical Therapeutic Applications

Depression and Neuroplasticity: Clinical trials using EEG to track psilocybin's antidepressant effects have shown that changes in theta brainwaves—similar to those observed in Ball's experience—correlate with symptom improvement. This represents "an EEG biomarker of the sustained effects of psilocybin" and provides crucial insights into therapeutic mechanisms.

Signal Diversity and Healing: Across multiple psychedelics, researchers consistently find increased "signal diversity," indicating "a more variable and unpredictable pattern of neural firing." This neural variability appears directly linked to neuroplasticity and therapeutic outcomes.

Long-Term Brain Changes

Recent research comparing naturalistic 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." This suggests the integration patterns Ball experienced may create lasting positive changes in how the brain processes self-referential thoughts.

The Unified Picture: From Gamma Waves to Global Healing

What emerges from seven years of research is a remarkably consistent picture that validates Ball's original insights while revealing extraordinary complexity. The gamma wave integration patterns he experienced represent just one layer of a profound neurological reorganization that:

Disrupts Maladaptive Self-Processing: By temporarily shutting down the Default Mode Network's rumination patterns
Increases Neural Plasticity: Through enhanced signal diversity and complexity

Promotes Real-Time Integration: Via the dynamic gamma wave patterns Ball first demonstrated

Creates Lasting Therapeutic Changes: Through neuroplasticity mechanisms we're only beginning to understand

The Challenge of Capturing Consciousness

Both the original researchers and current scientists emphasize the profound challenge of studying such deeply personal experiences. Each 5-MeO-DMT journey remains unique, influenced by countless factors including mindset, environment, and individual neurology.

Ball's description of trying to surrender to the experience while remaining still for scientific recording—balancing spiritual exploration with scientific rigor—remains a central challenge in the field. However, new methodologies like micro-phenomenological interviews and real-time neural feedback are beginning to bridge this gap.

Looking Forward: The Future of Consciousness Research

The trajectory from Ball's pioneering single-subject EEG study to today's sophisticated multi-modal brain imaging represents one of the fastest-evolving fields in neuroscience. Current research directions include:

Clinical Integration: As one recent review noted, "EEG has yet to be evaluated in clinical studies, and future work should aim to explore the relationship between acute EEG changes and clinical responses to psychedelic therapy."

Precision Medicine: Real-time EEG biomarkers may soon allow therapists to optimize psychedelic sessions in real-time, adjusting set, setting, or interventions based on objective brain activity measures.

Consciousness Mapping: The combination of EEG, fMRI, and advanced analysis techniques is creating unprecedented maps of consciousness itself—from ego dissolution to mystical experience.

The Broader Context: Healing Humanity's Disconnect

This neurological research takes on even greater significance when viewed through the lens of what author and researcher Rak Razam describes as humanity's profound disconnection from nature and plant medicines. Razam argues that the historical suppression of indigenous plant wisdom has created "species PTSD"—a collective trauma where our over-reliance on ego has severed our connection to the sacred nature of reality itself.

The EEG data showing the brain's remarkable integration patterns during 5-MeO-DMT experiences provides scientific validation for what indigenous cultures have long understood—that these plant teachers facilitate profound healing and reconnection to our essential nature. Watch Rak Razam's insights on this topic.

About the Researchers

Martin W. Ball, Ph.D. is a leading authority on non-duality and psychedelic experience, particularly known for his pioneering work with 5-MeO-DMT (he coined the term "The God Molecule" in 2008). An internationally recognized author, educator, and integration guide, Ball has written numerous groundbreaking books on entheogenic experience and non-dual consciousness.

Jeff Tarrant is a neuroscientist specializing in EEG research and psychedelic neuroscience, who brought sophisticated brain imaging technology to the study of altered states of consciousness in this groundbreaking early work.

Support Martin Ball's Work:

Website: martinball.net
Patreon: patreon.com/martinwball
Podcast: The Entheogenic Evolution (one of the longest-running psychedelic podcasts, established in 2008)
Integration Services: Available for individual consultations and nondual entheogenic integration work

Support Rak Razam's Work:

Website: rakrazam.com
Documentary: Aya: Awakenings - Available on Vimeo On Demand
Documentary Series: Shamans of the Global Village (featuring 5-MeO-DMT research)
Books:
- Aya: A Shamanic Odyssey - Travel memoir of time with Amazonian shamans
- The Ayahuasca Sessions - In-depth interviews with curanderos and practitioners
- In a Perfect World Podcast transcripts (2009-2019)
Podcast: In a Perfect World - "Experiential journalism" exploring consciousness and paradigm shifts
Description: Alchemical storyteller, filmmaker, consciousness researcher, and catalyst for the global shamanic resurgence