Music sounds better under the influence of cannabis. Why?

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Enthusiasts of collector's genetics and researchers agree on a fascinating phenomenon: the musical experience becomes profoundly enriched when one is under the influence of the active compounds present in cannabis varieties. This article explores the neurobiological mechanisms that make this synergy between cannabinoids and sound perception possible.

Imagine putting on headphones, closing your eyes and inhaling the vapors of your favorite collector's variety through a high-quality vaporizer. That album you know by heart suddenly reveals unfamiliar tonal nuances, more complex rhythmic flows and melodies that resonate on completely new emotional frequencies.

The Historical Connection Between Cannabis and Music

The bond between cannabis genetic material and musical creativity has its roots in the early decades of the twentieth century, with the birth of jazz and icons such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. This partnership between cannabinoids and artistic expression has spanned generations of musicians, from Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac to contemporary artists.

"When you work on a track for hours on end and then, during a break, use cannabis, it's like hearing that composition simultaneously for the first time and in a completely different way," is how Buckingham effectively describes the perceptual phenomenon that characterizes this unique sensory experience.

Neural Mechanisms: Time Perception and Rhythm

Scientific research has identified several mechanisms through which the cannabinoids present in collector's genetics alter the neural processing of musical information. The first key element concerns the alteration of time perception and timing, aspects fundamental to musicians and listeners alike.

A specific study showed that the subjective perception of time in individuals under the influence of high-THC varieties expands on average by almost 2 seconds over a 15-second reference interval. Jorg Fachner, professor of music, health and neuroscience at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, explains: "Brain systems under the influence of cannabinoids create a type of perception characterized by a slowing of internal time counting."

"You can imagine it as an expansion of your internal time units. Musicians thus have more mental time to plan the next note during improvisation, more easily picking out the rhythmic threads," Fachner continues.

This mechanism explains why jazz musicians manage to "compress" more notes into a given musical section while keeping rhythm and melodic flow intact. Musicians also report a greater "richness in the resulting output" when using collector's varieties during creative sessions.

Selective Focus and Auditory Processing

"The moment time perception changes, attentional and focus functions change as well," explains Fachner. "By putting on headphones and listening to your favorite track, you gain the ability to selectively perceive certain auditory information - some with greater intensity than normal, other with less prominence. The end result is that individual tones, rhythms and melodies produce a more intense impact."

According to Fachner, it is precisely this enhanced ability to perceive the "spaces between notes" that, under the influence of the cannabinoids contained in collector's genetics, makes music more vivid and defined.

Neurobiological Evidence: The EEG Study

In 2002, professor Fachner conducted pioneering research to examine brain changes during music listening under the influence of cannabis. Using an electroencephalogram (EEG), an instrument capable of detecting even minimal variations in neuronal electrical activity, the researcher measured the brain activity of subjects under control conditions and subsequently under the effect of varieties with 20% THC.

The experiment was deliberately conducted in a comfortable home setting to avoid interference caused by a laboratory environment. The results revealed a significant increase in brain activity in the right temporal lobe and left occipital areas - regions responsible for attentional regulation and the processing of sound and spatial information.

"One possible interpretation is that under the influence of cannabinoids it is possible to focus better on the musical flow while requiring less mental energy. Listening thus becomes a simpler and more relaxing process," Fachner concludes.

Visuospatial Processing and Multisensory Perception

Particularly interesting are the changes in the left occipital area, normally responsible for spatial perception and the processing of visual information. "When you listen to music, a sensory-spatial element is always present," explains Fachner.

"Our senses evolved to allow us to identify the origin and direction of all environmental sounds. This mechanism is processed simultaneously through auditory and visual brain circuits."

The changes in how the brain processes visuospatial information under the influence of collector's genetics help create that enriched multisensory experience that characterizes music listening in these altered states of consciousness.

Understanding these neurobiological mechanisms offers a fascinating scientific perspective on how the terpenes and cannabinoids present in the various collector's varieties can influence human perceptual experience, opening new frontiers in neuroscientific research and in the appreciation of the organoleptic properties of cannabis genetic material.