Victoria M Bajo

N,N-Diisopropyltryptamine and diptogenia: proposed mechanisms for a frequency-selective pitch-distorting psychedelic.

Brain communications January 1, 2026 Aidan Hurst, Victoria M Bajo

N,N-Diisopropyltryptamine (DiPT) is a psychedelic drug that selectively distorts pitch perception, making sounds seem lower in pitch than they actually are. Hurst and Bajo propose specific neural mechanisms that could explain this frequency-selective effect. They suggest that this property might be harnessed as a potential therapeutic intervention for tinnitus, a condition characterized by phantom sounds or ringing in the ears. The paper outlines a theoretical framework linking the drug's auditory effects to possible clinical applications.