In brief
- A study published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience shows that DMT, the primary psychoactive compound in ayahuasca, stimulates the proliferation of human neural stem cells grown in the laboratory.
- The study, conducted by researchers at two Brazilian universities, used cells reprogrammed from human skin, rather than live brain tissue or animals.
- A 24-hour exposure increased NGF and BDNF transcripts and intracellular BDNF protein; larger neurospheres formed after washout. This does not establish NGF protein or brain repair.
A team including Brazilian institutions investigated human neural cells in a study published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience, by José Alexandre Salerno and colleagues, including Stevens Rehen. The primary abstract describes how DMT increased proliferation of cultured human iPSC-derived neural stem cells. The experiment did not measure brain repair or treatment of disease in people.
From iPSCs to neural cells in culture
The team worked neither with living brains nor with animals, but with neural stem cells derived from human skin cells reprogrammed using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology. This technique, common in laboratory neuroscience, allows researchers to generate human neuronal precursors in culture and observe how they respond to various compounds without requiring brain biopsies. The researchers exposed these cultures to DMT for 24 hours, then removed the substance to track cell development over the following days.
What they found
The abstract describes concentration-dependent proliferation after 24 hours of DMT and changes in G1 cell-cycle regulators. NGF and BDNF transcripts and intracellular BDNF protein increased; NGF gene expression must not be turned into a measurement of NGF protein or its secretion. After DMT washout, larger neurospheres formed, with progenitor and early-neuronal marker composition matching controls by day ten. The authors’ explanatory article reports nearly tenfold NGF transcript and fivefold BDNF increases; these are cellular levels, not multipliers of new neurons in a brain.
What this means
The authors present this as a first step: there is a vast leap between a cell in a petri dish and a functioning human brain, and this research does not justify claims that DMT generates new neurons in living people. This is an in vitro finding, involving neither animals nor human subjects, that builds on previous rodent studies where DMT—in repeated doses or even a single dose—helped restore neurogenesis markers in stressed animals. It also aligns with recent clinical interest in the compound for treatment-resistant depression, a field still under investigation, though the mechanistic link between these two lines of evidence remains, for now, a plausible hypothesis rather than an established fact. As with the rest of the psychedelics field, it is essential to distinguish between what happens in a culture dish and what is known—and what remains unknown—about the brain of someone taking ayahuasca in a ritual, therapeutic, or personal setting.
Source
- The Conversation Brasil. “Psicodélico presente na ayahuasca pode ajudar o cérebro a produzir novos neurônios,” covering the study by S. Rehen and J. A. Salerno, “Proliferative Effects of the Psychedelic N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in Human Neural Stem Cells” (ACS Chemical Neuroscience). The Conversation, July 23, 2026.
Educational content written from a harm reduction perspective and with respect for individual freedom. It is not a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional and is not intended to encourage or condemn any drug use.
