The state that the brain senses "meaning" from music clearly by verification using LSD

ByAnthony Jauneaud

Even if you listen to the same music, some people do not feel anything, even those who literally react the brain and people who overflow the various emotions, the response is quite different. Why there is a difference in such reactions by people is not well understood, but it is a type of hallucinogenLSDA part of it is clarified by research using.

LSD May Help Reveal What Makes Music Meaningful
http://www.livescience.com/57666-lsd-reveals-what-makes-music-meaningful.html

The optimal way to know how and how the brain reacts to external stimuli such as music is "Magnetic Resonance Function Imaging Method" which can observe movement by visualizing the blood flow in the brain As "FMRIIt is called a method called. A research team at Zurich University School of Medicine in Switzerland used this fMRI and found that 22 subjects ingested LSD, an hallucinogen, when given a placebo, and a receptor antagonist that inhibits LSD and its action By comparing the differences in brain function when ingested, we have investigated which part is working when the person who listens to music feels meaning.

In the verification, the brains of 22 subjects were scanned three times using fMRI, and the difference in their functions was confirmed. In the case of three scans, it is a receptor antagonist in addition to placebo and LSD, placebo and LSD for each participantKetanserinThe changes that occurred at that time are observed. At the time of scanning, participants heard either songs meaningful to themselves or songs having no meaning, whether they were actually meaningful or not after the scan, whether they were in the middle (neutral) or not I answer in a questionnaire.

ByMichael Newman

As a result of the verification, the participant who ingested LSD answered "I felt the meaning" even when he was listening to a song without body meaning. However, it seems that when we ingest ketanserin which inhibits its work at the same time as LSD, its effect was weakened. From this, it is highlighting that LSD triggered a difference in response to the same song.


From the research using LSD and others, it is thought that there is a great significance in understanding the function of the brain that the part where the brain becomes active by the stimulation of music has become clear. Although it seems to be able to say for painting appreciation etc., the mechanism that the landscape appears in the head by listening to music, the specific memory is evoked mechanism has not been clarified yet, this research result is one of them It is expected to become a clue.

Mr. Katrin Preller of the research team who carried out the verification worked to recognize which cell, substance, part of the brain, and the environment in which the brain is present exist as meaningful and related to him by this research I am talking about the significance of research when it is made clear whether it is in. Furthermore, Mr. Preller says that the findings may indicate which part of the treatment of mental disorders should be focused on, and also that it is important to understand the results more deeply.

In addition, this study may be useful for the treatment of mental disorders, and also has the possibility of being used for care of patients with terminal cancer. For caring for end-stage cancer patients with severe pain, a kind of hallucinogen "Shiloh SibinBased on the results of this research using LSD, by understanding the meanings and depths of death for patients whose death period is approaching, Finally it states that there is a possibility of giving peace of mind.

Papers by the research team can be viewed from the following links.

The Fabric of Meaning and Subjective Effects in LSD-Induced States Depend on Serotonin 2A Receptor Activation: Current Biology