Ooh I Love Ted Talks! I will have to watch this tomorrow when my brain feels a little less like it has undergone spagettification.

Here's some supplemental data on ayahusca on the Science Alert website. But it looks like the web post is simply a write-up of an ASAP Science YouTube video on ayahusca.

[sciencealert.com]

The take-aways from the articles are:
1: "...But what's interesting about these hallucinations is that, unlike the trips produced by LSD and 'shrooms, people on ayahuasca are much more aware that they're hallucinating and generally alert...After the experience, many people report being more at ease with their thoughts, and are more accepting of their present situation. Rather than simply getting high, most people take ayahuasca to reconcile past experiences and emotions and find inner peace...."

2: "...There's also some evidence that DMT could help promote long-term memory and the growth of new neurons..."

3: "...and it might even have the potential to kill certain cancer cells. That's not to say ayahuasca could be used to treat cancer in its current form, but scientists suspect there might be some useful properties of the brew that could be used to fight cancer in the future...."

Makes one wonder what is the real reason these things are illegal.