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against it. 142 + SET, SETTING, AND DMT fast and hundreds of times as loud. The "BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG- BANG-BANG-BANG'" of the coil reminded me of ajackhammer. Anyone in the scanner, or the room, had to wear earplugs. Even so, the tumult set one's teeth on edge. Nevertheless, some of our research subjects were unbelievably robust. They liked DMT, they wanted to help with the experiments, and they were interested in knowing what the scans would show. I was alone with them in the MRI room while four or five other researchers sat on the opposite side of a thick "soundproof window, in front of the instrument panels, adjusting dials, flipping switches, and keeping in contact through the intercom sys- tem. The scan began; I injected the DMT and stayed in the room throughout the session, checking blood pressure and providing moral support. During the trip, my colleagues took scans every few minutes. For all of the effort, stress, and expectations, these data, too, were not especially revealing. The MRI team believed that major and expensive modifications to the scanner might have helped in increasing its ability to reveal DMT-induced brain changes. However, I didn't like the machine, and I didn't want to expose any more volunteers, or myself, to its deafen- ing sound, claustrophobic quarters, and powerful magnetic fields. While it may sound as if I had lost all modesty, or common sense, regarding what sort of studies I enrolled volunteers in, I did draw the line at radioactivity. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans provide very nice color photographic images of brain activity using what I thought were negligible amounts of radioactivity. I located some colleagues who were interested in a DMT PET scan study. PET scans would most certainly provide a more refined analysis of where DMT was acting in the brain. However, after learning about the amount of radiation involved, I decided This chapter and the last have described the set and setting of our stud- ies: who volunteers were, and in what circumstances and studies they received DMT. Earlier chapters reviewed what we know about the drug itself. Now that the tripod of set, setting, and drug is complete, we can begin following the spirit molecule to where it leads.