Effect of LSD and music on the time-varying brain dynamics.

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and music together alter brain state dynamics, particularly in task-positive networks. In 15 participants, functional MRI scans under LSD and placebo conditions included resting-state runs before and after music listening. K-Means clustering identified repetitive brain activity patterns. The interaction of music and LSD changed the time-varying activity of the task-positive state. LSD alone affected states combining the default mode, somatomotor, and visual networks. Music itself may have a lasting influence on resting-state activity, especially in task-positive networks. These findings suggest music is a crucial element of the 'setting' in psychedelic experiences, though replication with larger samples is needed.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelics are getting closer to being widely used in clinical treatment. Music is known as a key element of psychedelic-assisted therapy due to its psychological effects, specifically on the emotion, meaning-making, and sensory processing. However, there is still a lack of understanding in how psychedelics influence brain activity in experimental settings involving music listening. The main goal of our research was to investigate the effect of music, as a part of "setting," on the brain states dynamics after lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) intake. We used an open dataset, where a group of 15 participants underwent two functional MRI scanning sessions under LSD and placebo influence. Every scanning session contained three runs: two resting-state runs separated by one run with music listening. We applied K-Means clustering to identify the repetitive patterns of brain activity, so-called brain states. For further analysis, we calculated states' dwell time, fractional occupancy and transition probability. The interaction effect of music and psychedelics led to change in the time-varying brain activity of the task-positive state. LSD, regardless of the music, affected the dynamics of the state of combined activity of DMN, SOM, and VIS networks. Crucially, we observed that the music itself could potentially have a long-term influence on the resting-state, in particular on states involving task-positive networks. This study indicates that music, as a crucial element of "setting," can potentially have an influence on the subject's resting-state during psychedelic experience. Further studies should replicate these results on a larger sample size.