Neuroscientists have confirmed what every stoner already knows: music sounds better when you're high on weed. In a paper titled "Exploring the interaction between cannabis, hearing, and music," researchers from Toronto Metropolitan University reported results from a study in which participants "reported significantly greater hearing sensitivity and levels of state absorption while high compared to sober."
By analyzing survey and interview responses, they created a framework to understand the stoned listening experience within four themes: Altered Cognitive Processes and Reinterpretations; Auditory Perceptual Effects from New Sensations to Sensory Overload; Emotional Openness, Sensitivity, and Regulation; and Embodiment, Immersion, and Out-of-Body Dissociation.
According to the paper, "these themes collectively highlighted a general enhancement and appreciation for music as well as increased musical reward, such as enhanced rhythmic perception and the inclination to physically respond to rhythms."
Marijuana Moment shares some wonderful comments from the study participants:
- "When I'm not high, I just don't pay enough attention to the music, it's like…background noise. Compared to when I am high…it's like that's the only thing I am focused on."
- "I find when I'm stoned, I tend to focus a little bit more on the meaning behind the lyrics. I've accidentally discovered some of the songs that I really like, and I Google them later and I'm like—that's actually about a really serious subject that I hadn't noticed before. I listen and dissect the lyrics a little bit more [when high] than I normally would."
- "I'm able to connect different things that I wouldn't normally connect [when sober]. For music that would be scales, rhythm patterns, harmonies and how these coaligned together."
Previously:
• Americans use weed more regularly than alcohol: new report on cannabis policy
• Medical cannabis to federal approval, recreational remains criminal
• University launches course on crafting cannabis confections
