Psychedelics, Music and Auditory Processing

Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin profoundly alter the way we experience the world around us. Music has traditionally played an important role in guiding people through the psychedelic experience, and it is sometimes considered the 'hidden therapist' because of its important role in psychedelic assisted therapy. This planned project will use fMRI and audiology methods to investigate how psychedelics alter auditory perception and meaning-making while listening to music. Questions we hope to answer are: Do psychedelics alter the way we perceive sounds? Why do certain kinds of music seems to elicit more profound experiences than others? How can we best harness the power of music to improve therapeutic outcomes in psychedelic assisted therapy?