The molecules the body makes to perceive the world.
A research collaboration measuring endogenous tryptamines — DMT, bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT, made naturally by the human body — in nonspeaking and minimally speaking autism. We are asking whether the gut–brain chemistry of perception runs differently, and whether it can be measured.
The body makes its own psychedelics. We don't yet know why.
It is one of the stranger facts in neuroscience: the human body produces trace amounts of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and its close relatives — the same family of molecules found in classical psychedelics. They appear to be assembled from everyday building blocks of the nervous system, then broken down again, quietly, all the time.
What these endogenous tryptamines actually do remains an open question. Decades of analytical work — much of it pioneered in our collaborators' own laboratories — confirmed that these compounds are present in mammalian tissue and fluids. Their function is still unwritten.
Our study begins from a specific idea about where some of that chemistry might come from, and what it might be doing — particularly in autism.
A signal that may begin in the gut and end in perception.
The model we are testing — the Endogenous Psychedelic Hypothesis — proposes that, in some individuals, gut-derived tryptamine production is elevated, and that this sustained signal at the brain's 5-HT2A receptor shapes how the world is perceived.
Certain gut bacteria — including Ruminococcus gnavus and Clostridium sporogenes — carry an enzyme, tryptophan decarboxylase, that turns dietary tryptophan into tryptamine. Layered on individual differences in methylation and clearance, the hypothesis holds that this can raise the standing level of tryptamine signaling reaching the brain.
The 5-HT2A receptor is the same target responsible for the perceptual effects of psychedelics. A chronic, low-grade signal there would not be a "trip" — it would be a baseline. The question this study asks is whether that baseline is measurably different in nonspeaking autism.
A tryptamine panel, read at trace level.
We quantify the molecules at the center of the hypothesis using LC-MS/MS — liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry — the analytical standard for measuring compounds present in vanishingly small amounts.
DMT
N,N-dimethyltryptamine. The core endogenous tryptamine — produced and metabolized by the body, and the molecule this study is named for.
Bufotenin
5-hydroxy-DMT. A closely related endogenous tryptamine that has long appeared in studies of neurodevelopmental difference.
5-MeO-DMT
5-methoxy-DMT. The most potent of the three at 5-HT2A, included to map the full signaling profile.
Alongside these three, the panel tracks related precursors and metabolites — roughly a dozen analytes in total — so the picture isn't a single number but a signature: how much is made, how much is cleared, and what reaches circulation.
Stool
Reads the microbial source — which bacteria are present and what they are producing in the gut.
Blood
Captures what actually reaches systemic circulation, after the body's clearance machinery has had its say.
Saliva
An accessible, low-burden window — repeatable and gentle for sensory-sensitive participants.
Pairing the chemistry with the experience.
Most biomarker research can only measure the body. This study is built around something rarer: participants who can describe their own inner world.
It focuses on nonspeaking and minimally speaking autistic individuals who communicate fluently by spelling — through Spelling to Communicate (S2C), the Rapid Prompting Method, a letterboard, or an AAC device. Their first-person accounts let us hold the biochemistry of perception against a lived report of it, side by side.
That pairing — objective measurement with self-described experience — is what makes the question answerable in a way it otherwise wouldn't be.
If perception runs differently, the people living it are the ones who can tell us how.
The people behind the question.
A study designed across analytical chemistry, neuropharmacology, tissue imaging, consciousness research, and clinical practice.
A foundational figure in endogenous DMT research, whose analytical methods first established these compounds as measurable constituents of the human body. He anchors the study's chemistry and its decades of context.
A neuroscientist whose work centers on tryptamines and their action on the brain. His laboratory contributes the LC-MS/MS quantification at the heart of the measurement.
A physician-scientist known for high-resolution, multiplexed imaging of biological tissue. He brings rigor to how signal is quantified and interpreted at the molecular level.
A neuroscientist and psychiatrist who studies cognition and communication in nonspeaking autistic individuals. She bridges the study's chemistry with its first-person, experiential dimension.
Originator of the Endogenous Psychedelic Hypothesis and clinical lead for the study. His work integrates gut–brain biology, the microbiome, and functional medicine into the research design — and he personally reviews every expression of interest submitted below.
Honest about every step.
We'd rather you know exactly what's involved now than be surprised later. There is no cost to participate, and the participant's identity is protected in all research records.
A saliva sample
Simple and quick. Can be collected at home or on site, whichever is easier for the participant.
A stool sample
Collected at home with a kit we provide, returned in pre-paid packaging. No clinic visit required for this step.
Two blood draws
One at the study office, performed by a licensed phlebotomist experienced with sensory-sensitive individuals, and one at a local Labcorp for a separate enzyme test.
One or two visits, scheduled around you
Travel, timing, and accommodations are arranged in advance, with the participant's comfort organized first.
Interested in taking part?
Please email Dr. Bogner at [email protected]. Dr. Bogner personally reads every message.
About this research
This study is observational. It measures compounds the body already produces — no psychedelic or investigational substance is administered to participants at any point. The Endogenous Psychedelic Hypothesis is a scientific model under active investigation; it is not established fact, and nothing on this page is a diagnosis, a treatment, or medical advice.
Participation is voluntary, carries no cost to families, and may be withdrawn at any time. The participant's identity is protected in all research records. This page is an expression of interest, not formal enrollment; eligibility is confirmed separately by the research team.
Help us read the chemistry of perception.
If you know someone who may be a fit, they can email Dr. Bogner directly.
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