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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Many thanks to @raphaelmilliere.com, Ema Demšar, Zach Daily, David Erritzoe, @robincarhartharris.bsky.social, @christimmermann.bsky.social, Claire Petitmengin, the editors and reviewers at @nconsc.bsky.social, and our remarkable study participants.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

This work builds on the intravenous DMT study that Chris Timmermann designed and conducted during his PhD. I led the micro-phenomenological analysis of these data under his supervision, with the support of a fantastic group of collaborators.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The study shows that profound & idiosyncratic psychedelic experiences can have an identifiable structure & shared temporal organisation. More broadly, it contributes to our work on how complex conscious contents are constructed, & deconstructed, under short-acting psychedelics.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

These presences could be seen, heard, touched, or sensed amodally without a specific sensory form. Despite this diversity, they consistently appeared alongside an already constructed immersive space (even when not perceived as directly located within that space).

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Importantly, this development followed common sequences. Bodily effects generally emerged first, followed by visual & auditory effects, & the development of 3-d space. Perceived presences emerged only when these other effects had formed.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Our findings suggest that immersive DMT experiences develop along a structured continuum. Subtler effects in the bodily, visual, auditory, & amodal sense domains can combine into more complex experiential structures, including the sense of inhabiting an immersive world.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

After conducting micro-phenomenological interviews upon return to baseline after 20 mg of intravenous DMT, we used micro-phenomenological analysis to map the moment-to-moment development of immersion and perceived presences.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

DMT produces a striking sense of entering other worlds & encountering perceived presences (“entities”). Yet we know little about how these immersive experiences are constructed over time. 'Immersion' under DMT remains conceptually underdefined & phenomenologically underspecified

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Very happy to share that our paper, “Micro-phenomenology of immersion and perceived presences under DMT,” is now published in Neuroscience of Consciousness @nconsc.bsky.social t.co/ujgnZSVG23

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Reposted by James W. Sanders

Psychedelic Lived Experiences @psych-lived-exp.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

[Free Live Event Nov 12] Psychedelic Science Hour | Measuring the Ineffable: Can Science Capture Lived Experience? Join Manesh Girn, PhD, , Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, MD, and @jwsanders.bsky.social exploring the intersection of science and lived experience. 🎟️ Register free now via the link in bio

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Image: 17th century visionary depictions of the Dzogchen practice Tögal, in Tibet's Lukhang Monastery. (Source: Wellcome Trust)

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Finally, I'm very grateful to the team at Imperial College London's Centre for Psychedelic Research, and especially David Erritzoe, for their support over the last few years. An awesome team, who I am pleased to continue working with as an honorary research associate.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

I'm very grateful to UCL, + my supervisors Jeremy Skipper & Chris Timmermann @christimmermann.bsky.social. I'm also very grateful to David Germano (& the University of Virginia), Claire Petitmengin, & Martijn van Beek, for making this historic meeting of micro-phenomenology & Dzogchen a reality

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

There will naturally be a substantial focus on the micro-phenomenological method, & deep-dives into similarities / differences between these advanced meditation states & those induced by N,N-DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, and more.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Today I start my PhD studies at UCL's Centre for Consciousness Research! @uccr.bsky.social Here I will work with advanced practitioners of Dzogchen ('Great Perfection'; a Tibetan contemplative tradition), to neurophenomenologically assess the landscapes of conscious experience these practices unlock

"Lukhang mural 3" by Wellcome Trust, wellcomecollection.org Ian Baker, Hamid Sardar, Hon Wai Wai is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

13/ I’m grateful to my coauthors @raphaelmilliere.com Ema Demšar, Zach Daily @robincarhartharris.bsky.social & especially @christimmermann.bsky.social for his great trust & patience. Huge gratitude for the support & mentorship of Claire Petitmengin too Full paper here: osf.io/preprints/ps... /end.

osf.io

OSF

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

12/ Next for us is to explore how the phenomenological structures identified here relate to brain dynamics observed in the concurrently measured fMRI/EEG data - a truly exciting undertaking!

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

11/ Terrence McKenna said that the chance of the scientific mindset surviving the DMT realm is like the chance of an ice cube surviving a blast furnace. We demonstrate here, to the contrary, that even the most complex & personal experiences can have shared, observable structures

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

10/ This study demonstrates the potential of psychedelic micro-phenomenology to create detailed & precise descriptions with a structural focus, ideal for neurophenomenology & for comparing qualities of immersion & perceived presences across various non-ordinary/disordered states

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

9/ Immersion and presence phenomena are important to the cognitive neuroscience of consciousness, as they lay bare the mind’s capacity to construct richly structured experiential worlds, with intricate perceptual and social features

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

8/ Importantly, dynamic analysis showed these experiences didn’t develop randomly. A hierarchical pattern emerged: bodily effects tended to emerge first, followed by the integration of visual & auditory effects, then 3D space emerged, with perceived presences typically last

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

7/ These participant illustrations highlight the dimension of semantic complexity, whereby some perceived presences took the form of complex & specific figures, while others took the form of relatively simple & abstract shapes

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

6/ Perceived presences were common, and variable on a range of dimensions: in some cases seen as figures located in a particular environment, and in others purely felt and diffuse; in some cases socially engaged with the perceiving subject, while in other cases socially detached

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

5/ A wide range of cognitive faculties are implicated, including perception through the modal senses, amodal feelings (such as felt meaning and felt space), and a wide variety of self/world and social configurations.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

4/ Our results show that immersion under psychedelics is a complex, structural phenomenon through which an emergent landscape of experience envelops and involves the perceiving subject.

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

3/ We gave 25 participants IV DMT during combined fMRI/EEG We then used micro-phenomenological interviews to elicit rich & systematic descriptions of immersion and perceived presences under DMT, going beyond traditional summary reports to specify how it all unfolded across time

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

2/ We know from prev research that DMT reliably induces immersive experiences of other worlds, as well as perceived presence encounters (aka entities). But the structure & temporal dynamics of these phenomena are typically obscured in research, by limited phenomenological methods

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James W. Sanders @jwsanders.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

1/ How can micro-phenomenology advance our knowledge of the mind/brain under DMT, and address methodological shortcomings in psychedelic phenomenology more broadly? Announcing a new preprint from the DMT Research Group @ the Imperial College London Centre for Psychedelic Research

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Reposted by James W. Sanders

Chris Timmermann @christimmermann.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Our new paper - the first peer-reviewed brain and phenomenological examination of 5-MeO-DMT is out in Neuro of Consciousness. TLDR: We tested whether ‘the mount Everest’ of psychedelics could induce a complete state of consciousness deconstruction while preserving awareness. 1/n #neuroskyence

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