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Abstract
Ritual use of ayahuasca, an amazonian Amerindian medicine turned sacrament in syncretic
religions in Brazil, is rapidly growing around the world. Because of this internationalization,
a comprehensive understanding of the pharmacological mechanisms of action of the brew
and the neural correlates of the modified states of consciousness it induces is important.
Employing a combination of electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and quantification of
ayahuasca's compounds and their metabolites in the systemic circulation we found ayahuasca
to induce a biphasic effect in the brain. This effect was composed of reduced power in
the alpha band (8–13 Hz) after 50 minutes from ingestion of the brew and increased slowand
fast-gamma power (30–50 and 50–100 Hz, respectively) between 75 and 125 minutes.
Alpha power reductions were mostly located at left parieto-occipital cortex, slow-gamma
power increase was observed at left centro-parieto-occipital, left fronto-temporal and right
frontal cortices while fast-gamma increases were significant at left centro-parieto-occipital,
left fronto-temporal, right frontal and right parieto-occipital cortices. These effects were significantly
associated with circulating levels of ayahuasca’s chemical compounds, mostly N,
N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine and some of their
metabolites. An interpretation based on a cognitive and emotional framework relevant to the
ritual use of ayahuasca, as well as it's potential therapeutic effects is offered.

Full text: http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137202&representation=PDF

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