We know that apart from the physical process of hearing a sound which depends on our ears etc, the biggest factor in the perception of that sound is how our brains process it. There are many scientific papers written on the subject.
So if our brains are affected (ie changed) by substances like alchohol, or, more so, by 'mind altering' drugs, there is bound to be a change in how we perceive the music that we listen to.
Those of you who have experienced this phenomenon will know exacrly what I am talking about. Those who haven't can get a rough idea by listening to CD's recorded with Q sound. A good example is the 'Amused to Death' album by Roger Waters.
Cannabis will produce a similar effect, although more pronounced depending on its potency and how much the listener has taken.
Actually this presumably light-hearted question borders on a deep philosophical issue reagarding the nature of reality but I am not about to try and answer that here.
Please note that all substances imbibed in the research of this post were taken for purely academic reasons.
So if our brains are affected (ie changed) by substances like alchohol, or, more so, by 'mind altering' drugs, there is bound to be a change in how we perceive the music that we listen to.
Those of you who have experienced this phenomenon will know exacrly what I am talking about. Those who haven't can get a rough idea by listening to CD's recorded with Q sound. A good example is the 'Amused to Death' album by Roger Waters.
Cannabis will produce a similar effect, although more pronounced depending on its potency and how much the listener has taken.
Actually this presumably light-hearted question borders on a deep philosophical issue reagarding the nature of reality but I am not about to try and answer that here.
Please note that all substances imbibed in the research of this post were taken for purely academic reasons.
Beer, alcohol, is know as a nuerosupressor. You may or may not know that all our nerves are connected together by things called the synapse. This is a very small gap, when an impulse arrives at one side of the synapse neutransmitters are released, acetlycholine is very common as is noradrenalin. These transimitters then diffuse across the synapse and fit into special "sockets" complementary to the transmitters shape, on the other side of the synapese. If enough molecules fit into their complementary sockets this triggers another impuse to be transmitted where it will zoom down the nerve until it reaches the next synapse. So inshort nerve impuse is sent from the ear, gets to a synapse, neurotransmitter is released, impulse travels on to brain and we hear things! Great, but what does this have to do with Beer.
Well after the molecules of neurotransmitter have binded into their sockets they need to be removed, enzymes perform this function beer alters how quickly they can do this, so in onther words it takes longer before you can transmit again! If you have to wait twice aslong before you can send more info to the brain, then your reaction time etc is going to be impaired.
Now our brains percieve intensity as the frequency of impulses reaching it. If your synapses are impared, then the max number of impulses you can send/recieve will lower, thus it doesnt sound as loud.
FWIW - the hair cells in our ears have little tiny small hair cells on them these all move when the fluid moves in our ear canal. These cells move with respect to the movement of the liquid caused by the sound waves. If there is vibration these cells move enough to release potassium ions which causes the hair cell to depolarise and thus send an impuse.
Right its been a while since I did bio and thats from what I can remember, the general gist is correct but some minor technicalities might be slightly off. Plus I have just woken up so be kind on the language.
Cheers Matt
Well after the molecules of neurotransmitter have binded into their sockets they need to be removed, enzymes perform this function beer alters how quickly they can do this, so in onther words it takes longer before you can transmit again! If you have to wait twice aslong before you can send more info to the brain, then your reaction time etc is going to be impaired.
Now our brains percieve intensity as the frequency of impulses reaching it. If your synapses are impared, then the max number of impulses you can send/recieve will lower, thus it doesnt sound as loud.
FWIW - the hair cells in our ears have little tiny small hair cells on them these all move when the fluid moves in our ear canal. These cells move with respect to the movement of the liquid caused by the sound waves. If there is vibration these cells move enough to release potassium ions which causes the hair cell to depolarise and thus send an impuse.
Right its been a while since I did bio and thats from what I can remember, the general gist is correct but some minor technicalities might be slightly off. Plus I have just woken up so be kind on the language.
Cheers Matt
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