It’s no secret that music and cannabis enjoy a very friendly relationship. They just go together. The two have always been inextricably linked throughout the history of American music, from blues and jazz to rock-n-roll, soul, funk, R&B, disco, hip hop and electronica.
Everyone has their own way of feeling better after a long day: long walks, yoga, Netflix marathons – there are so many options, but listening to music is always at the top of the list. Music is romanticized as a panacea for all ills.
While this may not be accurate in the literal sense, music has a way of conveying human experience and emotion in a way that words alone simply cannot. That’s why we all have a playlist for when we’re sad. Listening to music is not just about relaxing. It is a deeply cathartic activity.
While getting up and putting on some tunes can be a smoker’s stereotype, the astute cannabis enthusiast can’t help but notice that there’s something special about how we perceive music when we’re drugged. And researchers have also explored this dynamic. After all, the effect that cannabis has on auditory perception is one of its most defining characteristics.
In the 1970s, a study found that marijuana improved our ability to perceive sounds at the top of the human hearing range, about 6000 Hz. Not only were participants able to hear these sounds better, but they also reported that they had experienced greater enjoyment in hearing them.
THC, one of the major cannabinoids found in cannabis, is known to activate our brain’s pleasure centers while interfering with short-term memory. Because short-term memory is altered, listeners are completely absorbed in the present as the music unfolds note by note.
Your brain no longer automatically clings to notes that have just been played, looking for patterns to predict which sounds will sound next. They just take the music and enjoy it. Many have described this experience as the feeling that time has stopped. It’s just you and the music, and you live for every note.
What about CBD, though? The CBD started out as the latest fad in the welfare industry, and is now everywhere. Everyone has heard about it, and the list of health benefits continues to grow.
CBD oil, also known as cannabidiol, is a natural compound derived from the hemp plant. Hemp is also a type of cannabis, but it contains less than 0.3% THC, which means it will not cause as much euphoria as we might expect from THC. And in that case, how does CBD affect the way we perceive music?
CBD, THC and Music
THC or tetrahydrocannabinol is a psychotropic cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. Its effects may vary from person to person, but most people who have experienced it report an altered state of consciousness and increased awareness of their environment. Most agree that it makes you more sensitive to certain stimuli.
Music has also been shown to affect brain chemistry, including mood, emotions, memory, and behavior. Thus, we can see music as a collection of sounds organized in a certain pattern with an observable psychoactive effect. As a result, the increased perception associated with cannabis use may amplify our experience of music.
If you don’t want “high” THC to offer, there’s still a cannabis-based solution that can help you sit back, relax, and enjoy the music a little more than usual: CBD.
CBD or cannabidiol is another cannabinoid known to reduce stress and help people relax. These days, you can find it in a multitude of products such as tinctures, oils, groceries, soft capsules or even as nugs and vapes such as organic CBD Nugs. It also goes great with music. Unfortunately, so far, there are not so many scientific studies examining this interaction.
Professor Valerie Curran, director of the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit at UCL, led a study that looked at the interaction between music and two types of cannabis: the skunk, which has a high concentration of THC (approximately 13%). and almost no CBD, and hashish. which has a lower THC concentration (approximately 6.5%) but significantly more CBD (approximately 8%).
On three different days, each of the 21 participants went to the lab where they inhaled high-potency, low-potency, low-potency cannabis that had evaporated into a balloon. The group that inhaled the low-potency cannabis type was given twice the amount to keep the THC dose around 5 mg for the two groups who were not inhaling a placebo.
After inhalation, participants in the three groups were asked to complete a series of tasks, some of which were performed inside an MRI scanner.
When participants listened to music they liked, the results showed that both types of cannabis drastically improve brain activity. Compared to placebo, the desire to listen to music increased by 55%. On the other hand, cannabis with a higher concentration of THC impaired connectivity to the brain’s relevant network, which is believed to help motivate people to put ideas into action. These differences could explain why high-potency cannabis users performed worse on a motivation test, forcing them to select whether to work harder in exchange for greater rewards.
Participants who received low-potency cannabis reported better sound perception than those who received high-potency cannabis or a placebo. When they were shown photos to memorize, they showed stronger brain activation in the visual cortex compared to placebo and made fewer mistakes in remembering these photos compared to the high-potency cannabis group.
It was also found that blood pressure varied depending on the type used. The placebo group had an average diastolic blood pressure of 70, while the low-power group had 74 and the high-power group had 79.
The researchers believe that through the results of this study, they confirmed that CBD helps counteract some of the adverse effects of THC.
Anecdotally, people who use CBD products and have tried to observe their effects while listening to music have reported that it has become their favorite way to relax because it is easier to immerse themselves in music. They feel that they respond more to music, and in turn, music enhances the relaxing effect of CBD products.
Similarly, those who use CBD products to increase attention reported that when combined with the right music, it has a noticeable positive effect and makes them more productive.
