Qualitative and quantitative features of music reported to support peak mystical experiences during psychedelic therapy sessions

This study identified the peak/mystical experience inducing/supporting music as “regular, predictable, formulaic phrase structure and orchestration, a feeling of continuous movement and forward motion that slowly builds over time, and lower perceptual brightness“.

Abstract

“Psilocybin is a classic (serotonergic) hallucinogen (“psychedelic” drug) that may occasion mystical experiences (characterized by a profound feeling of oneness or unity) during acute effects. Such experiences may have therapeutic value. Research and clinical applications of psychedelics usually include music listening during acute drug effects, based on the expectation that music will provide psychological support during the acute effects of psychedelic drugs, and may even facilitate the occurrence of mystical experiences. However, the features of music chosen to support the different phases of drug effects are not well-specified. As a result, there is currently neither real guidance for the selection of music nor standardization of the music used to support clinical trials with psychedelic drugs across various research groups or therapists. A description of the features of music found to be supportive of mystical experience will allow for the standardization and optimization of the delivery of psychedelic drugs in both research trials and therapeutic contexts. To this end, we conducted an anonymous survey of individuals with extensive experience administering psilocybin or psilocybin-containing mushrooms under research or therapeutic conditions, in order to identify the features of commonly used musical selections that have been found by therapists and research staff to be supportive of mystical experiences within a psilocybin session. Ten respondents yielded 24 unique recommendations of musical stimuli supportive of peak effects with psilocybin, and 24 unique recommendations of musical stimuli supportive of the period leading up to a peak experience. Qualitative analysis (expert rating of musical and music-theoretic features of the recommended stimuli) and quantitative analysis (using signal processing and music-information retrieval methods) of 22 of these stimuli yielded a description of peak period music that was characterized by regular, predictable, formulaic phrase structure and orchestration, a feeling of continuous movement and forward motion that slowly builds over time, and lower perceptual brightness when compared to pre peak music. These results provide a description of music that may be optimally supportive of peak psychedelic experiences. This description can be used to guide the selection and composition of music for future psychedelic research and therapy sessions.”

Authors: Frederick S. Barrett, Hollis Robbins, David Smooke, Jenine L. Brown & Roland R. Griffiths

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Psychedelic drugs have profound effects on perception, cognition, and states of consciousness, and may occasion mystical or non-dual experiences. These experiences may hold therapeutic value for mood disorders and addiction, and are operationally defined and investigated in psychedelic research through the use of instruments such as the Mystical Experience Questionnaire.

Psychedelics, including psilocybin, may hold promise as future therapeutics for some types of intractable disorders, but the success of these therapies may depend on the optimization of the therapeutic context.

Psychedelic drugs can alter the experience of music listening, leading to altered states of consciousness, increased entropy in brain activity, and the occurrence of mystical or non-dual experiences.

Music has been used in psychedelic research and therapy sessions for many decades. While early reports suggested that certain types of music were supportive during different phases of the psychedelic experience, the process of selecting music for psychedelic therapy sessions has not yet been clearly defined.

THE CURRENT STUDY

We created an online survey to identify features of music that are already being used to support peak experiences with psychedelics. The survey was restricted to consideration of psilocybin in therapy in order to avoid any potential confounding effects of the pharmacological differences between psychedelics.

Research from psychology and music education can be used to characterize music that is supportive during a psychedelic experience. Qualitative methods include subjective ratings of descriptive features of music. Qualitative and observational data has been used to guide the composition of novel music for centuries, including in film scoring and music instruction. Qualitative ratings can be made by qualified experts in music theory and/or music cognition on recordings of musical performances.

Quantitative methods for characterizing music include signal processing and other computational algorithms, and have been utilized in a wide range of applications, including automated music recommendation systems and semantic music analysis systems.

MIR methods can be used to derive objective measures of the physical properties of sound that align with subjective, perceptual dimensions of music listening experience. These measures can be used to both characterize musical selections and compose novel music of a similar type.

Two experts analyzed the music identified by therapists to determine the features of music that were common among the indicated musical selections for each period of drug effects. These features were also analyzed using music information retrieval methods to provide complementary quantitative measures.

METHODS

We asked expert psilocybin guides to identify two to three pieces of music that are optimally supportive of mystical or non-dual peak experiences, and to provide details regarding the characteristics of therapeutic sessions with psilocybin.

Participants

Participants were recruited by word of mouth recommendation to complete an anonymous survey about the role of music in supporting psychedelic therapy sessions. A survey was conducted on the internet to obtain information about therapists who have extensive experience using psilocybin mushrooms. Written informed consent was not obtained from participants since this was an anonymous internet survey.

Survey of Psychedelic Therapy Experience

Participants were asked to provide details regarding their experience guiding sessions with psilocybin, including the approximate number of high-dose psilocybin sessions they had guided, the approximate number of different people they had guided in psilocybin sessions, and the approximate number of group sessions they had guided.

Identification of Pre Peak and Peak Music

Participants were asked to provide the title, artist, and album of two to three pieces of music that they felt were optimally supportive of mystical or non-dual peak experiences.

Qualitative Analysis

Three authors reviewed music provided by survey participants, used consensus to develop a list of qualitative musical and acoustic features, and rated music for each feature. The final list of features was confirmed by consensus discussion among three authors.

Quantitative Analysis

Subjective perceptual features of music can be identified and consistently coded by non-expert musical raters. These subjective perceptual features of music have been associated with a set of stimulus features that are computationally derived using music information retrieval (MIR) methods. MIR features were calculated using the Music Information Retrieval Toolbox and the mean of the time courses for each feature were analyzed for the entire musical selection.

Welch’s two-sample t-tests were used to compare component scores of MIR features between peak and pre peak stimuli, and to identify principal components that represent previously proposed music-perceptual dimensions of Activity, Brightness, and Fullness.

RESULTS

Thirteen individuals responded to the survey, of which 10 completed it and provided consent to use their data. They indicated having guided a substantial number of individual high-dose psilocybin sessions and a moderately large number of group sessions.

Typical Psilocybin Session Conditions

Six participants indicated that music was present at some point during 100% of the high-dose psilocybin sessions they guided, three participants indicated that music was present at some point during 90% of the sessions they guided, and one participant indicated that music was present during 70% of the sessions.

Volunteers typically lie down during psilocybin sessions, but may also be sitting up, standing, or walking during sessions. Most volunteers wear eyeshades and have a co-guide or assistant present during sessions.

Musical Recommendations

Twenty-seven recommendations were made for peak music and 27 recommendations were made for pre peak music. Three recommendations were excluded from analysis because they were identified for both peak and pre peak stimuli.

Qualitative Analysis

Experts in music theory and music cognition rated the features of music to differentiate peak and pre peak music. Peak period music is characterized by consistency, regularity, and either some sense of directed motion or a cyclical form.

Pre peak music typically has less consistency within and among musical selections, and less sense of large-scale directed motion than peak music.

Quantitative Analysis

Figure 1 shows the loadings of each MIR feature onto the first nine principal components. The 8th principal component did not map clearly onto a previously identified perceptual dimension, and thus remains unlabeled.

Welch’s two-sample t-tests indicated that component scores for component 1 (Brightness) were greater for pre peak music than for peak music, but that component scores for component 2 (Activity) were not significantly different between peak and pre peak music.

DISCUSSION

There were clear differences in qualitative ratings between music recommended for the peak period of psilocybin experience and music recommended for the pre peak period.

Qualitative Analysis of Musical Selections

Peak period stimuli typically have a regular, predictable, formulaic phrase structure, consistent instrumentation, and a slow tempo, and are composed in a simple, often quadruple, meter. They may also feature specific individual instruments from non-European cultures.

Quantitative Analysis of Musical Selections

Peak period stimuli were found to have lower perceptual brightness and potentially greater perceptual fullness than pre peak music.

Quantitative analysis only identified a single dimension on which pre peak and peak music differed, and the quantitative analysis did not converge with the qualitative analysis. However, the qualitative and quantitative approaches yielded complementary knowledge.

Toward a Model of Musical Features That Support Mystical Experience

We propose a model for psychedelic drug effects that includes music expressing peak period music characteristics. This model could be empirically tested using at least two methods.

To test whether music expresses characteristics of peak period music, researchers could select music from a large corpus of composed and performed music that expresses or does not express these characteristics, and then test whether the music causes peak psychedelic experiences.

A second method could be to compose and perform music that expresses or does not express the characteristics of peak period music, and then test the effectiveness of these novel musical stimuli in supporting peak psychedelic experiences.

Music evokes strong memories and emotions within music listeners, and these associations are by nature very idiosyncratic. If musical features could be identified that are supportive of peak psychedelic experiences, this would facilitate composition of novel therapeutic music in different genres and toward different tastes.

LIMITATIONS

The small sample size and anonymous nature of the survey limits the generalizability of our findings, but we gain some confidence that responses were somewhat independent.

We removed Adagio for Strings from analysis, as it was suggested for both peak and pre peak periods, and also contained qualitative features that were consistent with some of the pre peak period musical recommendations. The survey identified 51 unique musical recommendations, including three recommended by Bonny and Pahnke. These recommendations may indeed provide guidance regarding music that supports peak experience.

Qualitative methods are subjective by definition, and involve great effort and time. Quantitative methods are more objective by nature, and take advantage of modern computing technology to reduce the time and effort required to analyze music. There are many aspects of musical composition and performance that elude quantitative analysis, for instance the orchestration of polyphonic music. However, qualitative and quantitative methods did not converge clearly in our report. Future empirical analysis and quantitative analysis using a larger sample of stimuli is recommended, and quantitative methods may be necessary.

The current study used therapists and psilocybin guides rather than patients or volunteers within psilocybin studies, which may be viewed as a strength and a limitation. The survey does not directly investigate what patients or study volunteers have experienced during psychedelic sessions that utilized the recommended music.

CONCLUSION

The current paper is a tentative first step in a future research into the optimization of music for the support of peak psychedelic experiences. The features of music that support peak experiences are regular, predictable, formulaic phrase structure and orchestration, a feeling of continuous movement and forward motion, and lower perceptual brightness.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was written by the authors with input from Dr. Oscar Bettison and Robert Jesse. It was funded by a Discovery Award from the Johns Hopkins University Office of the Provost.

Study details

Topics studied
Music

Study characteristics
Interviews Theory Building

Participants
10

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