The relationship between psychedelic drugs and music goes both ways. While music has been found to be helpful in psychedelic therapy, it can also be used to show how psychedelics can improve the mood of mental health patients.
A recent study conducted by researchers at Imperial College London looked at the use of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug, to help people with depression experience pleasure while listening to music. Depression often causes people to lose the ability to enjoy music, a condition called anhedonia.
This study showed that psilocybin therapy can help people with treatment-resistant depression experience pleasure while listening to music by targeting the dopamine systems in the brain that are responsible for feelings of pleasure.
This study builds on previous research that has shown the potential of psychedelic drugs, like psilocybin and ketamine, to reduce anhedonia in depressed patients.
