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.”
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