New research has found evidence that music can alter how the brain processes emotions in people receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, as well as reduce their cravings.
The study, published in the journal Addiction Neuroscience , is the first to investigate brain activity during music therapy sessions to treat substance use disorders, and combined electroencephalography (EEG) recordings with questionnaires and interviews with participants.
Carried out by a team from Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research led by Dr Clemens Maidhof, Dr Filippo Pasqualitto and Professor Jorg Fachner, the study found that people taking part in music therapy reported lower levels of craving immediately after the sessions and also showed different patterns of brain activity linked to emotional and motivational processing.
Music and addictive substances both activate the brain’s reward system and can produce immediate changes in mood and emotion, with music capable of euphoric responses that resemble those associated with addictive substances. This has led researchers to investigate whether music therapy can reduce these cravings and support recovery from addiction.
The pilot study involved 16 adults receiving treatment for alcohol and drug use, including heroin, cocaine and cannabis, through a London community addiction service. Participants either received six weekly music therapy sessions alongside their standard treatment or standard treatment alone.
The music therapy was delivered in both group and one-to-one sessions, with the research team creating a temporary music studio and brain lab at the treatment centre. The participants used physical instruments, such as drum pads, guitar, keyboard and percussion, as well as computer-based music software.
Craving is a main symptom of substance addiction and, using a self-reported Craving Thermometer scale, participants who received music therapy reported less “present moment” craving immediately following the sessions.
Alongside this, EEG recordings showed that these participants had lower levels of frontal beta activity compared to the control group. More beta waves, relative to other frequency ranges, is associated with craving.
And crucially, using a measure called frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), the study also identified important differences in the frontal areas of the brain responsible for the processing of positive and negative emotions.
Along with the results of a response task, the FAA data suggests that those receiving music therapy might be better able to control emotions such as anger and frustration that could otherwise overwhelm their behaviour, and these FAA findings were statistically significant.
Senior author Jorg Fachner , Professor of Music, Health and the Brain at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, England, and co-director of ARU’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, said: “We know that substance use is often accompanied by cognitive and behavioural challenges, including difficulties with emotional regulation and symptoms such as depression and anxiety.
“Our Cochrane Review into the use of music therapy for people with substance use disorders highlighted how it can reduce cravings and improve people’s motivation for change. What makes our new study particularly important is that, for the first time, we combined participants’ own experiences with recordings of brain activity, allowing us to see how the therapy is influencing those neural processes that are associated with recovery.
“The results suggest that music therapy could help people process their negative emotions, which is relevant to managing cravings and supporting motivation to change their behaviour, as well as be better able to inhibit or control their emotional responses, such as anger or frustration.
“Overall, it provides encouraging evidence for the role of music therapy in addiction treatment and supports the value of combining psychometric, qualitative and EEG measures when studying music therapy in substance use disorders. However, given the small sample size of this pilot study, the trends we found require confirmation in longer and larger-scale investigations.”
Addiction Neuroscience
Music therapy in community-based substance misuse treatment: Exploring psychometric, qualitative and EEG measures related to craving, inhibition and affective processing
30-Sep-2026