The idea that the pineal gland produces enough DMT to produce psychoactive effects came from the popular book “DMT: The Spirit Molecule,” written by clinical psychiatrist Rick Strassman in 2000. Strassman proposed that the DMT excreted by the pineal gland enabled the life force into this life and on to the next life.

Does pineal gland create DMT?

It seems clear that DMT can be produced in the body, as well as by the pineal gland, in extremely tiny amounts (Barker et al., 2012, 2013), but the more important issue is whether those amounts are sufficient to affect human physiology. The pineal gland has a long and mythical history.

Where is DMT produced in the body?

There is some evidence that DMT is also produced endogenously, in other words, it is produced naturally in the body, specifically in the pineal gland in the brain.