Psychedelics and music: neuroscience and therapeutic implications
This review (2018) finds that music may play a larger (active) role in psychedelic therapy and could be responsible for (part of the positive) outcomes.
Authors
- Katrin Preller
- Mendel Kaelen
- Frederick Barrett
Published
Abstract
From the beginning of therapeutic research with psychedelics, music listening has been consistently used as a method to guide or support therapeutic experiences during the acute effects of psychedelic drugs. Recent findings point to the potential of music to support meaning-making, emotionality, and mental imagery after the administration of psychedelics, and suggest that music plays an important role in facilitating positive clinical outcomes of psychedelic therapy. This review explores the history of, contemporary research on, and future directions regarding the use of music in psychedelic research and therapy, and argues for more detailed and rigorous investigation of the contribution of music to the treatment of psychiatric disorders within the novel framework of psychedelic therapy.
Research Summary of 'Psychedelics and music: neuroscience and therapeutic implications'
Introduction
Barrett and colleagues frame the review within renewed interest in classic psychedelics (for example LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline) as treatments for conditions such as addiction, end-of-life distress and depression. They note that psychedelic-assisted therapies are distinctive because clinically meaningful improvements can follow only one or a small number of sessions, and that a central premise of this therapeutic model is that the phenomenology of the acute drug experience predicts and mediates longer-term clinical outcomes. Music listening has been a pervasive element of psychedelic therapy since mid-20th century practice, but methods for selecting and delivering music are not standardised and have received little systematic empirical evaluation. This paper sets out to review the historical use of music in psychedelic contexts, and to synthesise contemporary neurobiological, psychopharmacological and clinical findings about how music and psychedelics interact. The authors aim to identify mechanisms by which music may support therapeutic effects (notably emotion modulation, imagery and autobiographical meaning-making), and to highlight gaps and future research directions needed to develop evidence-based guidelines for music use in psychedelic therapy.
Expert Research Summaries
Go Pro to access AI-powered section-by-section summaries, editorial takes, and the full research toolkit.
Full Text PDF
Full Paper PDF
Pro members can view the original manuscript directly in the browser.
Study Details
- Study Typemeta
- Journal
- Topics
- Authors
- APA Citation
Barrett, F. S., Preller, K. H., & Kaelen, M. (2018). Psychedelics and music: neuroscience and therapeutic implications. International Review of Psychiatry, 30(4), 350-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2018.1484342
References (42)
Papers cited by this study that are also in Blossom
Akers, B. P., Ruiz, J. F., Piper, A. et al. · Economic Botany (2011)
Barrett, F. S., Griffiths, R. R. · Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences (2017)
Barrett, F. S., Bradstreet, M. P., Leoutsakos, J. M. S. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2016)
Barrett, F. S., Preller, K. H., Herdener, M. et al. · Cerebral Cortex (2017)
Slevc, L. R., Barrett, F. S., Robbins, H. et al. · Frontiers in Psychology (2017)
Belser, A. B., Agin-Liebes, G. I., Swift, T. C. et al. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2017)
Bogenschutz, M. P., Johnson, M. W. · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry (2016)
Bogenschutz, M. P., Forcehimes, A. A., Pommy, J. A. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2015)
Carbonaro, T. M., Hurwitz, E., Johnson, M. W. · Psychopharmacology (2017)
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D., Williams, T. et al. · PNAS (2012)
Show all 42 referencesShow fewer
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Leech, R., Shanahan, M. et al. · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2014)
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Leech, R., Williams, T. M. et al. · British Journal of Psychiatry (2018)
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Muthukumaraswamy, S., Roseman, L. et al. · PNAS (2016)
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Roseman, L., Bolstridge, M. et al. · Scientific Reports (2017)
Garcia-Romeu, A., Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W. · Current Drug Abuse Reviews (2015)
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A. et al. · Psychopharmacology (2011)
Griffiths, R. R., Richards, W. A., Mccann, U. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2006)
Grob, C. S., Danforth, A. L., Chopra, G. S. et al. · JAMA Psychiatry (2011)
Grof, S., Goodman, L. E., Richards, W. A. · Pharmacopsychiatry (1973)
Johnson, M. W., Griffiths, R. R. · Neurotherapeutics (2017)
Johnson, M. W., Garcia-Romeu, A., Cosimano, M. P. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2014)
Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A., Griffiths, R. R. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2008)
Kaelen, M., Barrett, F. S., Roseman, L. et al. · Psychopharmacology (2015)
Kaelen, M., Giribaldi, B., Raine, J. et al. · Psychopharmacology (2018)
Kaelen, M., Lorenz, R., Barrett, F. S. et al. · Biorxiv (2017)
Kaelen, M., Roseman, L., Kahan, J. et al. · European Neuropsychopharmacology (2016)
Kraehenmann, R., Preller, K. H., Scheidegger, M. et al. · Biological Psychiatry (2015)
Kurland, A. A. · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (1985)
Lebedev, A. V., Kaelen, M., L€ Ovd En, M. et al. · Human Brain Mapping (2016)
Mithoefer, M. C., Wagner, M. T., Mithoefer, A. T. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2010)
Osório, F. L., Sanches, R. F., Macedo, L. et al. · brazilian Journal of Psychiatry (2015)
Preller, K. H., Herdener, M., Pokorny, T. et al. · Current Biology (2017)
Richards, W. A., Rhead, J. C., Dileo, F. B. et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Drugs (2012)
Riga, M. S., Campa, L., Artigas, F. et al. · Neuropharmacology (2016)
Roseman, L., Nutt, D. J., Carhart-Harris, R. L. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2018)
Ross, S., Bossis, A. P., Guss, J. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2016)
Sanches, R. F., Osório, F. L., Dos Santos, R. G. et al. · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (2016)
Swift, T. C., Belser, A. B., Agin-Liebes, G. et al. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2017)
Timmermann, C., Spriggs, M. J., Kaelen, M. et al. · Neuropharmacology (2018)
Umbricht, A., Vollenweider, F. X., Schmid, L. et al. · Neuropsychopharmacology (2003)
Vollenweider, F. X., Kometer, M. · Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2010)
Watts, R., Day, C. M., Krzanowski, J. et al. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2017)
Cited By (20)
Papers in Blossom that reference this study
Henningfield, J. E., Barrett, F. S., Evans, S. M. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2026)
Mediano, P. A. M., Rosas, F. E., Timmermann, C. et al. · ACS Chemical Neuroscience (2024)
Wall, M. B., Lam, C., Ertl, N. et al. · Journal of Affective Disorders (2023)
Adamska, I., Finc, K. · Psychopharmacology (2023)
Thal, S. B., Wieberneit, M., Sharbanee, J. M. et al. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2023)
Breeksema, J. J., Niemeijer, A. R., Kuin, B. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2022)
Thal, S. B., Wieberneit, M., Sharbanee, J. M. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2022)
Pontual, A. A. D. D., Tófoli, L. F., Corradi-Webster, C. M. et al. · Frontiers in Psychology (2022)
Gaddis, A., Lidstone, D. E., Nebel, M. B. et al. · Biorxiv (2022)
Dursun, S. M., Kelly, J. R., Gillan, C. M. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2021)
Show all 20 papersShow fewer
Doss, M. K., Madden, M. B., Gaddis, A. et al. · Brain (2021)
Hartogsohn, I. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2021)
Aday, J. S., Bloesch, E. K., Wood, J. R. et al. · Reviews In The Neuroscience (2021)
Strickland, J. C., Garcia-Romeu, A., Johnson, M. W. · ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science (2020)
Barrett, F. S., Krimmel, S. R., Griffiths, R. R. et al. · NeuroImage (2020)
Breeksema, J. J., Niemeijer, A. R., Krediet, E. et al. · CNS Drugs (2020)
O'callaghan, C., Hubik, D. J., Psychiatry, M. et al. · Journal of Music Therapy (2020)
Aday, J. S., Mitzkovitz, C. M., Bloesch, E. K. et al. · Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2020)
Wolff, M., Evens, R., Mertens, L. J. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2020)
Roseman, L., Haijen, E. C. H. M., Idialu-Ikato, K. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2019)
Your Personal Research Library
Go Pro to save papers, add notes, rate studies, and organize your research into custom shelves.