furthermore, the pineal gland is a hypothetical candidate for producing a mind's eye; rick strassman and others have postulated that during near-death experiences (ndes) and dreaming, the gland might secrete a hallucinogenic chemical "n","n"-dimethyltryptamine (dmt) to produce internal visuals when external sensory data is occluded. however, this hypothesis has yet to be fully supported with neurochemical evidence and plausible mechanism for dmt production.