From the Icaro or “magic songs” of shaman performances during Ayahuasca ceremonies in the Amazonian jungle to the innovative new clinics using psilocybin to study neuroscience in the modern world, music and psychedelics have had a long-established relationship. Psychedelics have often been accompanied by the use of music to guide the users’ psychological state. But the full therapeutic value of both music and psychedelics is still not fully known.
Despite evidence of therapeutic value, psychedelic research had waned during the 20th century. Former United States president Richard Nixon declared post-1970 a war on drugs, effectively resulting in an embargo on psychedelic research as public interest and thus, funding declined. With breakthroughs in neuroscience and changing sentiments both by governments and populations towards the legalization of drugs, there is now a psychedelic renaissance.
Private companies like NeonMind and Compass Pathways are looking at using psilocybin, more commonly referred to as ‘magic mushrooms,’ in psychological studies. While the studies vary, they often use similar techniques to enhance both the drug’s effects and resulting brain activity.
This is done through the use of carefully selected playlists that run a gamut of emotions on patients.
“By and large, they seem to take the listener on a journey — and it’s not all positive,” says Dr. Frank Russo, a cognitive neuroscientist and clinical trial advisor for the Vancouver-based company NeonMind.
“I think there’s quite a bit of tension on these playlists. The music starts out relatively neutral in its emotional connotation. But it quickly becomes tense, and you get this back and forth between tension and release. At the very end of the playlists, you tend to get triumphant music or joyful music — a return to where you started. A relatively positive and not highly activated state at the end of the playlist,” added Russo.
This was echoed by a Compass Pathways rep, who explained that the playlists act as an “emotional release.”
“By and large, they seem to take the listener on a journey — and it’s not all positive,” says Dr. Frank Russo, a cognitive neuroscientist and clinical trial advisor for the Vancouver-based company NeonMind.
While neither company could disclose what was on their playlists, understanding the kinds of musical features of the songs and particularly what created tension was insightful. Song characteristics to build tension include; dissonance, irregular rhythms, and denying the expectancy of completing a note.
For instance, it is public knowledge that Henryk Goreki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” was included in John Hopkins University’s playlist for their trials. In fact, John Hopkins University’s full playlist is available on Spotify.
The music has been described as ambient and useful to map the journey that the patient goes on. The music is mostly instrumental or otherwise is culturally geared towards meditative or contemplative states. The music set at the beginning of these therapies is to often assist with the on-set of the drug. Patients are given a small dose a week before in preparation and speak with a therapist before taking the high dose of psilocybin during the trials. The patients are then given eyeshades and lie down while monitored by a therapist and an assistant therapist in-session.
In many ways, the psilocybin treatment is mirroring therapy.
“A common thread in many models of psychotherapy is that you have to identify the point of tension and deal with it, understand it and deactivate it. Temporarily, I think that’s what’s happening on a neuropsychological level with high doses with psilocybin,” says Dr. Russo.
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Back in 1957, Robert Gordon Wasson published an article in Life magazine titled “Seeking the Magic Mushroom,” where he first brought attention to the Mazatec mushroom ritual. This was what introduced the magic mushroom to the world at large. Wasson undertook a ritual under the curandera, María Sabina, who herself became a figure in wider popular culture; after being ostracized from her community for bringing in mycotourists and helping to commercialize the sacred ritual.
Music had a crucial role during Wasson’s initial ceremony. Wasson writes, “she began a low disconnected humming. Soon the phrases became articulate syllables, each disconnected syllable cutting the darkness sharply.”
There was also a need for rhythm. “The Senora stood up in the darkness where there was an open space in our room and began a rhythmic dance with clapping or slapping,” said Wasson.
Wasson went on to describe how the rhythms and singing trigger an altered state.
This underscores the importance of music during a psychedelic experience: There are cross-cultural beliefs in music’s power. Historically, music has been tied to healing.
“One of the ways music influences our emotions is in training our biological rhythm,” says Dr. Russo.
So psilocybin playlists need to be carefully crafted. Rhythms need to be particularly paid attention to. They regulate our bodies. Everything from the circadian rhythm to heart rate and respiration is regulated through rhythm.
Take, for instance, the Circadian Rhythm. It functions like an orchestra, with internal clocks rising and falling at various times of the day. But there is also a need for anticipating changes to rhythm, such as when to pick up speed, as recently discovered by the 2017 Nobel Prize winners in Physiology or Medicine. A distortion in time can have a ripple effect. This is because the different internal clocks work ensemble with other body clocks.
Music like psychedelics can also create a sensation of time distortion. Being engulfed in music can lead to what Dr. Russo calls ‘absorption.’
“We’re looking for music that creates that immersive experience,” says Dr. Russo. “You might lose track of the time. You might feel like you are less likely to have interrupted thoughts. Your mind is on the music.”
The importance of music is echoed by a 2020 article titled “Inside the John Hopkins Psilocybin Playlist,” for DOME, the trade magazine catered to John Hopkins University’s staff.
The article details how the music on the playlist is designed as a safety net. Music has emotional and biological effects and can bond to a person.
Henryk Goreki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” for example, tells the story of suffering. While the song has a few interpretations, including historical and spiritual readings, Goreki himself shunned any explicit meaning.
The music is meant to be a language to describe an experience; in the case of Goreki — sorrow. So music can create empathy or even a sense of belonging in the world.
