Music is Medicine: How Sounds Heal Us

And How You Can Participate this Summer in Cincinnati

It’s no secret that listening to music causes a boost in the brain’s production of the hormone dopamine. This increase can relieve feelings of anxiety and depression. But there’s so much more to the connection between your favorite songs, your favorite substances, and how they all blend together to create our most pleasurable experiences. 

The Science Behind Music as Medicine

The peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) studied the implication of the reward system in musical emotions most recently in 2019. This result is the latest development in an already remarkable series of studies by the groups of Robert Zatorre and Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells on the implication of the reward system in musical emotions. In their seminal 2001 study the team used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to show that episodes of peak emotional responses to music (or musical “chills”) were associated with increased blood flow in the ventral striatum, the amygdala, and other brain regions associated with emotion and reward.

Beyond the work done by PNAS, several peer-reviewed studies have supported the idea that music can have therapeutic effects on various aspects of human health. A few key areas where recent studies have shown promising results:

1. Pain Management: Listening to music can help reduce pain perception and the need for pain medication in various clinical settings, including postoperative recovery, chronic pain management, and palliative care. 
2. Stress Reduction: Listening to music can reduce levels of stress hormones like cortisol and promote relaxation, leading to improved mental well-being and coping mechanisms in stressful situations.
3. Mood Enhancement: Music has been found to have mood-regulating effects, with certain types of music eliciting positive emotions, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, and enhancing overall mood and emotional well-being.
4. Cognitive Function: Engaging with music, whether through listening, playing instruments, or singing, can benefit cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and executive functioning, particularly in aging populations and individuals with neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
5. Physical Rehabilitation: Music therapy has been incorporated into rehabilitation programs for motor skills development and coordination in patients recovering from strokes, traumatic brain injuries, and other physical impairments.
6. Social Connection: Participating in musical activities, such as group singing or playing in ensembles, has been shown to foster social bonds, enhance communication skills, and promote a sense of belonging and community among participants.

These are just a few examples of the diverse ways in which music can positively impact health and well-being, as supported by recent peer-reviewed studies across various disciplines such as psychology, neuroscience, medicine, and music therapy. But scientists have a hunch that there’s more to the collaborative healing powers of music and other alternative medicines.

Music and Mind-Altering Substances: Cannabis

Cannabis consumption can result in slower time perception, or a faster inner clock, which can improve musicians’ ability to improvise and experiment with their tracks, according to Jörg Fachner, professor of music, health and the brain and co-director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research.

According to the Daily Trojan in 2020: “While cannabis intersects with many facets of U.S. popular culture, none are probably quite so apparent as the innumerable connections between music and weed. Beginning with historical jazz classics dating back to the early 20th century and continuing with the multigenre cannabis anthems of the modern day, people have been both referencing the substance in their songs and blazing up to bangers for generations.

From Cab Calloway to Snoop Dogg, Sublime to Lana Del Rey, artists who write songs about weed have a long history of producing timeless hits (pun very much intended). Although odes to cannabis have origins in jazz, reggae and hip-hop, songs about weed span across myriad genres, including country, rock and, more increasingly, pop and alternative/indie.” 

Check out our MedicateOH 420 Playlist on YouTube.

Music and Psilocybin

Where the influence that cannabis might have is overt, other emerging alternative therapies might also hold a musical connection.

From the peer-reviewed journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Nov 2023:

“Psychedelic ingestion in the presence of music seems to have a strong relationship with participants’ preceding relationship to music and creativity more broadly. Following psilocybin therapy for smoking addiction, during which music was played, all 12 participants noted music as a central component of the psychedelic experience, with six reporting that particular pieces they had heard during the experience evoked overwhelming positive emotions even some 30 months later at the time of the follow-up interview.94 Two participants mentioned commencing musical hobbies in the months following the intervention, even though music was not a focal part of the therapy.”

So it’s possible that the most effective approaches to treating addictions via mushrooms might be those that incorporate music. This probably isn’t a surprising revelation to anyone who’s ever attended a music festival.

Music at MedicateOH Events 

MedicateOH’s founders believe strongly that music is one of our most powerful forms of medicine. Some of our early fundraising events in 2021 and 2022 got denied by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, who then governed the medical marijuana program and its licensees. The reason? Our music.

As we rolled our eyes at the silliness, we bravely pressed on with our MedicateOH music events anyway. In 2021, we hosted two music events at Woodburn Brewing. In 2022, we presented a Community Jam with our friends from Cincinnati local band Strange Mechanics at Queen City Hemp’s facility.

In 2023, we brought the Cajun, Texas swing, and old-time band The Bings to our outdoor Herbs & Arts Fair at Ohio CBD Guy. We had The Bings back for our Harvest Moon Vendor Fair and Voter Rally in September, and we were also treated to an awesome set from the progressive rock band Highly Likely. (Catch The Bings’ sets on YouTube here and here.)

Now that adult-use is the law of the land in Ohio, we will continue to have music-immersive events that feature local bands that we love and give us the music medicine we need.

Meet MedicateOH for Music this Summer

MedicateOH has been busy building our events around music in 2024. In April, we partnered with local Cincinnati bands Dead Centric and Scarlet Fire at the Redmoor in Cincinnati to celebrate the The Grateful Dead’s influence on cannabis culture. (Check that out here.) Then in May, MedicateOH and partners Sauce Essentials, Bloom Medicinals, WonderGrove, Black Buddha Brand, and Nar Reserve descended upon central Ohio to participate in the Dark Star Jubilee at Legend Valley. 

This July, you can participate in two musical offerings with MedicateOH: Stop by our vendor booth at Paradise on the Point Music Festival at Sawyer Point in Cincinnati July 5 and 6. Then our canna-fam should plan to come out to Stanley’s Pub on July 10th, 4-9 p.m. for our Canna-Community Oil Day celebration. Acts who want to play as part of this event should reach out!

Want to volunteer with MedicateOH and get credit toward a free concert? Sign up for Concerted and check our offerings there. 

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