Journal Article

LSD enhances the emotional response to music

Curran, H. V., Barrett, F. S., Family, N., Feilding, A., Nutt, D. J., Lorenz, R., Roseman, L., Carhart-Harris, R. L., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M.

2015

Overview

Rationale There is renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). LSD was used extensively in the 1950s and 1960s as an adjunct in psychotherapy, reportedly enhancing emotionality. Music is an effective tool to evoke and study emotion and is considered an important element in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy; however, the hypothesis that psychedelics enhance the emotional response to music has yet to be investigated in a modern placebo-controlled study. Objectives The present study sought to test the hypothesis that music-evoked emotions are enhanced under LSD. Methods Ten healthy volunteers listened to five different tracks of instrumental music during each of two study days, a placebo day followed by an LSD day, separated by 5–7 days. Subjective ratings were completed after each music track and included a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the nine-item Geneva Emotional Music Scale (GEMS-9). Results Results demonstrated that the emotional response to music is enhanced by LSD, especially the emotions “wonder”, “transcendence”, “power” and “tenderness”. Conclusions These findings reinforce the long-held assumption that psychedelics enhance music-evoked emotion, and provide tentative and indirect support for the notion that this effect can be harnessed in the context of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Further research is required to test this link directly.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adult / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Blood Pressure - drug effects / Blood Pressure - physiology / Double-Blind Method / Emotions / Emotions - drug effects / Emotions - physiology / Female / Hallucinogens - administration & dosage / Health aspects / Heart Rate - drug effects / Heart Rate - physiology / Humans / LSD / LSD (Drug) / Lysergic acid diethylamide / Lysergic Acid Diethylamide - administration & dosage / Male / Middle Aged / Music / Music - psychology / Neurosciences / Original Investigation / Pharmacology/Toxicology / Pilot Projects / Psychiatry / Psychological aspects / Psychological research / Psychopharmacology / Psychotherapy