Mendel Kaelen: Psychological & Neurophysiological Effects of Music in Combination with Psychedelics

Psychedelic-assisted therapy utilizes music as a core component to improve therapeutic outcomes. Music acts as a transformative technology that can steer the subjective experience by facilitating heightened emotionality and accessing vivid autobiographical memories. Research data suggests that the quality of the music experience, specifically the listener's engagement and resonance, serves as a predictor for therapy outcomes such as decreased depression. The neurophysiological mechanism likely involves increased connectivity between brain regions like the parahippocampus and visual cortex during the altered states induced by substances like LSD. This heightened sensitivity to the environment highlights the importance of carefully designing music for therapeutic sessions to ensure positive and safe outcomes for patients.