Conference Proceedings World Congress Music Therapy 1999

The use of psychedelics in psychotherapy setting with music, as well as comparative research on drug-induced altered forms of perception have been roots of music therapy, (e.g. GIM). Changed perception filter functions have been used for psychotherapeutic issues but the uncontrolled use of psychoactive substances in popcultural environments increased social and personal problems. Valid estimations of drug-induced music perception are of certain interest for music therapists working with addicts. The question arises, "Is there a lasting imprint of state-dependent music experience and habituation on the use of music?" Since the beginnings of jazz the connection between cannabis consumption, music production and creativity has been controversially discussed; but research on this topic has been very rare. The recently discovered endogenous cannabis receptor sheds a new light on memory, movement, space and time perception processes and imagery and association patterns. Presented here is an explorative study on Cannabis and Music Perception, conducted in a qualitative and quantitative way in a habituated setting. EEG-Brainmapping Data (rest; pre/post listening; 28 EEG traces; smoked Cannabis, containing 20 mg ∆ THC) were averaged and treated with a T-test and a visual topographic schedule. Compared to pre-THC-rest and pre-THC-Music in the post-THC-Music-EEG a rise of Alpha percentage and power was observed in the parietal cortex on four subjects, while other frequencies decreased in power. Decreased amplitudes could represent a decreased cell-firing mode caused by cannbinoidreceptor mechanism. Comparing pre/post music EEGs, differences (p<0.025) were found in the right frontotemporal cortex on Theta and on Alpha in the left occipital cortex. Changes in temporal and occipital areas and increasing α-signal strength in parietal association cortex seem to represent a neural correlate of altered music perception and hyperfocusing on the musical time-space. Alpha amplitude changes remind on 'reverse Alpha' findings in studies with gifted individuals. Fachner, Jörg: The Musical Time-Space, Cannabis And The Brain ... 71 Cannabis-induced changes • Seashore-Rhythm-Scale Aldrich 1944, Reed 1974) • Time and space estimation tasks (Jones Melges 1970/1, Tart 1971, Casswell 1973, Mathew 1998) • Auditory intensity perception ( Caldwell 1969, Tart Globus 1978) • Preferences for higher frequenciesdeSouza 1974) • Synesthesia(Baudelaire 1845, Tart 1971, Marks • Visual depht perception (Emrich 1989) • Imagery (Tart 1971,Koukkou 1976/8) • Cognitive style (Dinnerstein 1968, Curry 1968) Cannabis induced perceptual changes and a possible link to musician’s creativity has been discussed since the early days of Jazz. Research on this topic has been very little. In the 40 Alrich observed a little change on the Seashore-Rhythm-Scale (Aldrich, 1944), a result, which was replicated with higher changes by Reed in the 70 (Reed, 1974). Melges explained Cannabis-induced effects on time perception as speeding up of the internal clock (Melges, Tinklenberg, Hollister & Gillespie, 1970; Melges, Tinklenberg, Hollister & Gillespie, 1971), which is experienced as time expansion (Tart, 1971). Changed time estimation may temporarily enable an increased insight into the space between the notes (Whiteley, 1997). In audiological tests cannabis changed metric units of auditory (intensity) perception (Globus & al, 1978) and induced preferences for higher frequencies (de Souza, Karniol & Ventura, 1974). Descriptions of synaesthetic effects (Baudelaire, 1988), weakened censorship of perceptual filter functions (Emrich et al., 1991) and a transition to a divergent style of thinking, suggest an intensification of individual cerebral hearing strategy, resulting like Curry proposed (Curry, 1968)in a hyperfocusing on sound, on acoustic space and musical time-structure. Fachner, Jörg: The Musical Time-Space, Cannabis And The Brain ... 72 Cannabinoid Receptors in Even that it is possible now to link cannabis action mechanism to the density spread of recently discovered cannabinoid receptor system in brain and immune system, topographic pre/post EEG studies are not available. Most receptors have been found in frontal and parietal lobe, gyrus cinguli, hippocampus and cerebellum (Joy, Watson & Benson, 1999). Fachner, Jörg: The Musical Time-Space, Cannabis And The Brain ...