Is it really possible to “get high” with sounds?
The new trend among the younger population is auditory drugs, which are not consumed intravenously, orally or snorted like traditional hallucinogens, but through the ear. We tell you what the drugs that are heard consist of and what their effects are.
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What are auditory drugs? Auditory
drugs are a new fashion in the world of narcotics that is becoming more and more accepted among young people, and that consists of sounds that supposedly produce alterations of the nervous system . The exposure of the individual to this type of sound generates the effect that common drugs have on the brain.
The possibilities offered by new technologies and the access of young people to an entire audiovisual world through the Internet favored the appearance of this new concept about ten years ago . Since then, the interest in this type of new sensation has only increased.
The neuroscientific basis
The scientific basis on which they rest is, however, much earlier. In 1839 the physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove discovered that binatural waves cause a special effect in the central nervous system by the reception of different sounds with unequal frequencies in each ear.
From this neuroscientific base and with the development of new technologies, sound tracks and musical pieces have been designed that manage to imitate, through the sensations that are reproduced in the brain when listening to them, the effects that marijuana, cocaine, crack or ecstasy .
Regardless of whether sound drugs actually work or not, what is clear is that they cost less than narcotic substances, which are not illegal and for the moment no adverse effects have been reported that deteriorate the brain and the body.
The truth is that drugs of auditory origin may have a basis in science. | Andrew Hunter.
What are its effects?
The first system that I experimented with auditory drugs, the I-Doser, was based on the use of two sound channels with different frequencies that each entered through a different ear, generating an imbalance in the balance of the nervous system. which produces dizziness, confusion and an altered state of consciousness.
When listening to these binatural sounds, the meso-limbic zone of the nervous system, in charge of regulating the states of activation and relaxation, and emotional behaviors, alters their normal processes inducing the individual to sensations similar to common drugs.
1. Vertigo and dizziness
Since the auditory canal is related to balance and vertigo, one of the immediate effects of auditory drugs is precisely the alteration of balance and the sensation of dizziness. This can also be accompanied by headaches and a feeling of mental block, which follows a state of decompression and relaxation.
2. Depression of the central nervous system
Among the drugs there is a group known as depressants of the central nervous system, which include, for example, alcohol, opiates and sedative-hypnotics. What characterizes them is that they cancel or reduce the main functionsof the nervous system, generating a sensation of inhibition and numbness of the brain.
Well, this sensation is also applicable through auditory drugs if the frequency of binaural sounds is modulated to a pulse less than 13Hz.
3. Anxiety and tachycardia
Although auditory drugs can hardly reach the levels of euphoria and disinhibition that some narcotics such as cocaine, speed or ecstasy offer, it is actually proven that music can release substances such as serotonin and adrenaline , known as hormones of happiness.
However, regarding the physiological effects of binatural sounds, it is more frequent that they produce a saturation of the nervous systemwith its consequent consequences: stress, anxiety and tachycardia.
4. Euphoria and relaxation
There are those who modulate bilateral sounds to get high with sound drugs and achieve a feeling of euphoria. For this, the frequency that best stimulates the brain waves is 10.5 Hz, which in the case of incorporating bilateral sounds , circulates them through the neuronal system, producing a feeling of euphoria and relaxation.
This particular sensation can be enhanced by stimulating the sight with distorted images that reinforce the effects of auditory drugs .
How to consume acoustic drugs
Consumers can download audio tracks and music from various Internet sites, most of them free , although there are also specialized pages that offer downloads at a price of about 8 euros. The price varies depending on the type of sound and the drug they try to imitate.
Since auditory drugs are based on bilateral sounds, listening to music without headphones affects sound dispersion and reduces their effects . In this sense, it is best to listen to the sound tracks directly from headphones, which allow the input of different frequencies to be enhanced in each ear.
In addition, it is advisable to do it with your eyes covered, because all our capture of reality carries its weight in the ear. Through the visualization of distorted images or with psychedelic compositions, the individual can be induced to momentary lapses of hallucination and altered consciousness.
Another difference with respect to the usual drugs is that it is recommended to consume sound drugs lying down, relaxed and isolated. While it is normal to take cocaine or speed to party in environments of socialization and disinhibition, in this case, hearing drugs require concentration to develop their effects.
Do auditory drugs really work?
The scientific community has investigated the effects of auditory drugs and there is a general consensus that thesethey cannot reach the levels of alteration of the central nervous system and the conscience of the individual that if they possess the drugs consumed by vein, orally or through the nose.
However, if secondary effects derived from the use of acoustic drugs are verified. In a direct sense, through the immediate effects it causes by assuming an abrupt alteration of hearing levels, and in an indirect sense, through the release of substances and hormones that generate anxiety or euphoria in our body.
In any case, the experts point out the importance that everything that has to do with suggestion acquires here. Being a fashion, young people experiment with acoustic drugsand they can be induced to sensations generated by their own desire. In any case, the effects that these drugs have on the individual are momentary.
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References
Akeroyd, MA (2006). The psychoacoustics of binaural hearing: La psicoacustica de la audicion binaural. International journal of audiology, 45(sup1), 25-33.
Agustin, LGO, Oswaldo, OT, Patricia, CG, de Coyoacan, CAM, de Ciencias Biologicas, CA, & Escolar, P. XXI CUAM-ACMor RESEARCH CONGRESS “COMPARISON OF THE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA AND THE HEARING DRUG ”.
