Music and Mushrooms: How Music Shapes the Psychedelic Experience

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When it comes to psychedelic therapy, there are many nuances to take into consideration to ensure a successful and productive journey. One of the more interesting topics I think about and get asked about is the role of music in treatment. Music has played a unique role in human development and has served as a means of communication and connection for thousands of years. In a previous blog post, I discussed my personal experiences with music and how it transcends language and our normal modes of communication in groundbreaking ways. Psychedelics have played a pivotal role in our development as well. In the most recent blog post, I briefly outlined the historical context surrounding psychedelic use – there’s more recent interest in these compounds following decades of underground use following the passage of the Controlled Substance Act, but they’ve been a staple of society for thousands of years. There is also evidence that music and song have been coupled with psychedelics in ancient shamanistic rituals, particularly in Native American societies. When you consider how integral music and psychedelics have been in regard to human society and development, it’s only right that they form the perfect marriage with each other.

“Aside from helping to keep clients grounded and allowing them to be more present in the journey, music also plays a pivotal role in augmenting the mysticism facilitated by psychedelics.”

How does music help inform psychedelic treatment, though? In order to tackle this question, it’s helpful to have context for how dosing sessions are structured and organized. Let’s use psilocybin treatment in a clinical trial as an example (there will be more emphasis placed on what treatment looks like outside of the research setting in future posts, but we’ll focus on research for now as there are significant limitations on the delivery of treatment given lack of FDA approval and DEA rescheduling of classic psychedelics). Following several preparation sessions involving the therapist and client, the dosing sessions takes place. A typical session lasts anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. In clinical research settings, treatment takes place in a treatment room designed to optimize comfort for the client as they undergo their journey. Generally, clients spend the duration of their time on a bed with eyeshades on to minimize visual stimuli and encourage them to “go within” and truly immerse themselves in the experience. One could argue that psilocybin alone coupled with therapy is more than enough to promote robust treatment. However, this overlooks one of the more critical components of the setting: music! Aside from helping to keep clients grounded and allowing them to be more present in the journey, music also plays a pivotal role in augmenting the mysticism facilitated by psychedelics. There is sufficient evidence suggesting that having a mystical experience helps facilitate more positive outcomes for upwards of 12 months following dosing. The degree of mysticism is measured by several scales, notably the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire, which quantifies sacredness, noetic quality, ineffability, paradoxicality, strong sense of positive mood, and transcendence of time and space. Interestingly, music has a direct influence on these measures, particularly transcendence. This has been observed clinically by those receiving treatment and facilitators alike. I commonly talk about music’s ability to transcend the ways people communicate with each other, facilitating more robust connection, so it comes as little surprise that this is observed when coupled with psychedelics. Mystical experiences brought about by psychedelics and music have also been correlated to long-term changes in openness and improvements in depressive and anxiety related symptoms in individuals dealing with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer. While the cause of this is unclear, I believe that, on a superficial level, the ability of psychedelics to change how we view and think about our distress and music’s ability to augment these effects and help guide us through the journey plays a major role in these changes.

“While some have reported unpleasant imagery during their journeys, many report more positive imagery that was therapeutically meaningful.”

In addition to helping augment mystical experiences, psychedelics are implicated in helping to shape visual imagery. Many have noted that the music selections during journeys helps with the progression of imagery which in turn can alter an individual’s perception of space and time. Imaging studies have also demonstrated increased connectivity in areas associated with visual imagery (specifically in individuals coupling LSD and music). While some have reported unpleasant imagery during their journeys, many report more positive imagery that was therapeutically meaningful. It seems that when music less helpful, the tunes contrast with the emotions being experienced at the time which can cause disruption and less effective guiding through the journey. This is consistent with my experience in clinical trials. Set and setting are obviously extremely important factors in the generation of positive imagery and preparation is crucial for this. However, when these factors are optimized, music seems to be extraordinarily beneficial in inducing positive, therapeutic images for clients.

“I believe psychedelic therapy is at its best when music is specifically curated to the individual, considering the goals of treatment and the specific pathology they are dealing with.”

A topic that really interests me and something that I think will become a huge component of psychedelic treatment moving forward is creating a curated music experience for clients. In the clinical research settings, playlists are standardized, and the same music is used in each treatment. Playlists are specifically created to match the timeline and variable intensity of the journey at various points. While this helps minimize bias, it does not necessarily lend itself to an optimized experience. This is an area in which more research must be done. I believe psychedelic therapy is at its best when music is specifically curated to the individual, considering the goals of treatment and the specific pathology they are dealing with. This approach should be dynamic over the course of treatment as no two trips are the same – what is beneficial in one session may not be helpful in successive sessions.

The more we learn about psychedelics and their ability to induce positive long-term changes in how we feel and perceive the world around us, it is becoming increasingly clear that music plays a huge role in treatment. The nuances need to be investigated further, but we are well on our way to understanding how to best couple the two.

Until next time!

Dr. McCall

References:

1.       Hawi, Z., Cummins, T. D. R., Tong, J., Johnson, B., Lau, R., Samarrai, W., … Bellgrove, M. A. (2018). The molecular genetic architecture of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 23(3), 546–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2017.50

2.      Jerotic, K., Vuust, P., & Kringelbach, M.L. (2024). Psychedelia: The interplay of music and psychedelics. Ann NY Acad Sci., 1531, 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15082

3.      Maclean KA. Factor Analysis of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire: A Study of Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin. J Sci Study Relig(4):721-737 (2012).