Psilocybin Can Help Depressed People Enjoy Music Again

What if an antidepressant didn’t just reduce your symptoms — but helped you feel alive again?

New research out of Imperial College London is showing that psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms and truffles, may do just that. One of the most profound and moving discoveries? It can restore the emotional power of music — a subtle but deeply human experience that often is lost to depression.

There are countless stories from people describing how psilocybin helped them reconnect, with themselves, their loved ones, and with life’s everyday beauty. Music is often one of the first things to awaken again. Now, science is beginning to validate what many users already know: psilocybin doesn’t just numb pain — it can actually rekindle joy.

Why Music Is Crucial in The Study of Depression

Depression is often misunderstood as mere sadness. But in truth, one of its most painful symptoms is anhedonia — the inability to feel pleasure. For many people, depression flattens their world. Music stops sounding beautiful. Laughter feels distant. Even things they once loved no longer spark a reaction.

That’s why researchers at Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychedelic Research chose music as a tool to measure emotional change. Music is immersive, emotional, and deeply human. Unlike clinical tests or word puzzles, it reflects how we actually experience the world.

As part of their study, published in Molecular Psychiatry (2025), the researchers invited participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) to take part in a six-week treatment program.

They were split into two groups:

One group received two high doses of psilocybin (25mg) along with daily placebo pills.

The other group took a standard SSRI, escitalopram (Lexapro), plus two tiny “placebo-like” 1mg psilocybin doses to maintain consistency in study design.

Before and after treatment, participants were played a carefully selected piece of music filled with musical surprises — sudden key changes, rhythm shifts, and melodies designed to stir emotion. These are the kinds of moments in a song that normally trigger goosebumps, chills, or tears.

What the Brain Scans Revealed

While participants listened to music, they were scanned using functional MRI (fMRI) technology to observe changes in brain activity. They also continuously rated their emotional experience using a dial, measuring how pleasant and stimulating the music felt in real-time.

The results were striking:

• Psilocybin preserved or even heightened emotional responsiveness.
• Brain scans revealed that psilocybin reduced activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an area linked to overthinking and rumination.
• However, simultaneously, psilocybin boosted activity in sensory regions of the brain— indicating a shift toward presence and emotional engagement.
• Escitalopram significantly dulled emotional reactions.

Lead researcher Rebecca Harding summarized the fascinating findings:

“These changes may reflect a shift away from an overactive internal narrative — common in depression — and toward a more externally engaged mode of processing.”

In simple terms: psilocybin helps the brain tune back into real, joyful, sensorial life.

Psychedelics, Music, and Emotional Healing

The link between psychedelics and music runs deep. For decades, therapists and psychonauts alike have described how music acts as an emotional guide during psychedelic experiences — unlocking memories, surfacing emotions, and helping people process trauma.

Under psilocybin, music often feels more vivid, meaningful, and profound. Even simple melodies can evoke rich inner landscapes. This emotional resonance makes music a powerful tool for therapeutic integration, helping users feel safe and supported during vulnerable moments.

In fact, many psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions include carefully curated music playlists, designed to support emotional flow and healing. This new study helps explain why: psilocybin doesn’t just open the mind — it opens the heart.

How Is Psilocybin Different From Traditional Antidepressants?

Most SSRIs, like escitalopram (Lexapro), are designed to stabilize mood by increasing serotonin levels. While they’re effective for many, they also come with a downside: emotional blunting.

People on SSRIs often say they feel less depressed, but also less everything. The lows are dulled, but so are the highs. It’s like watching life go by in black and white.

Psilocybin appears to work differently. Instead of flattening emotions, it seems to reset and revitalize emotional sensitivity, allowing people to reconnect with beauty, awe, and joy. As this study found, both treatments improved depression — but only psilocybin restored the deep emotional response to music.

Quick Takeaways

• Both psilocybin and SSRIs reduced symptoms of depression.

• However, only psilocybin restored emotional depth, especially when listening to music.

• Brain scans revealed psilocybin helped people become less self-focused and more emotionally present.

• Music, under psilocybin, became a gateway back to feeling alive.

Final Thought: When the Music Returns

There’s something quietly miraculous about the moment someone says, “I heard a song today and it moved me — for the first time in years.”

That’s the power of emotional reconnection. That’s the promise of psilocybin. And with science now illuminating the path forward, it’s becoming clearer than ever that psychedelic healing isn’t just about treating illness. It’s about bringing us back to life.