Summary:
A pilot neuroimaging study from Anglia Ruskin University reveals that music therapy directly modulates brain wave dynamics linked to emotional regulation and craving suppression in individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Published in Addiction Neuroscience, the study demonstrated that patients participating in active music-making experienced immediate reductions in substance cravings alongside significant shifts in frontal beta and alpha electroencephalography (EEG) rhythms.
Key Facts:
- Immediate Craving Relief: Participants undergoing six weekly music therapy sessions reported significant drops in immediate, present-moment substance cravings on self-reported craving scales right after sessions.
- Biomarkers of Craving Suppression: EEG neuroimaging showed that music therapy dampened frontal beta wave oscillations, an electrophysiological signature elevated during active substance craving.
- Enhanced Emotional Regulation: Statistically significant changes in frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) indicated that music therapy improved the neural processing of negative affect, helping patients modulate intense emotions like anger and frustration that frequently trigger relapse.
Source: Anglia Ruskin University
Substance use disorders hijack the brain’s meso-corticolimbic dopamine pathway, entraining neural circuits to seek compulsive reinforcement while blunting natural reward sensitivity. Concurrently, addiction erodes prefrontal emotional control, leaving individuals vulnerable to intense cravings, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and impulsive behavioral outbursts during withdrawal and rehabilitation.
Music engages many of the same dopaminergic reward hubs, triggering acute euphoric states, mood elevation, and emotional catharsis without toxic pharmacological side effects. While music therapy has long been used adjunctively in psychosocial rehabilitation, objective neurophysiological data demonstrating its impact on the addicted brain has remained scarce.
Now, an investigative team from the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has provided electrophysiological evidence that active musical engagement reshapes brain dynamics in patients undergoing addiction recovery.
The findings, published in Addiction Neuroscience, represent the first study to record real-time EEG brain activity during music therapy interventions for substance use disorders.
“Substance use is often accompanied by cognitive and behavioural challenges, including difficulties with emotional regulation and symptoms such as depression and anxiety,” said senior author Jörg Fachner, Professor of Music, Health and the Brain and co-director of ARU’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research.
“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.”
Transforming Addiction Clinics into Live Acoustic Brain Labs
The randomized pilot study examined 16 adults undergoing outpatient rehabilitation for dependence on alcohol and illicit substances (including heroin, cocaine, and cannabis) through a community addiction service in London.
Participants were allocated to receive either their routine recovery treatment alone or standard treatment supplemented by six weekly music therapy sessions. To capture ecological neurodynamics, the research team transformed space at the London clinic into a pop-up recording studio and portable EEG neurobiology laboratory.
Sessions were conducted both individually and in group cohorts. Rather than passively listening to pre-recorded playlists, participants actively created music using an array of acoustic and electronic instruments—including percussion, acoustic and electric guitars, drum pads, digital keyboards, and music production software.
Immediately following the musical sessions, participants registered lower present-moment cravings on standardized Craving Thermometer ratings compared to control participants who received only standard care.
Calming Frontal Beta Waves and Restoring Affective Balance
The biological drivers of this craving suppression were evident in the participants’ cortical EEG traces:
- Reduced Frontal Beta Oscillations: Patients receiving music therapy displayed marked reductions in frontal beta activity relative to control subjects. Pathological increases in frontal beta power are recognized neurophysiological correlates of acute craving and cognitive-affective distress.
- Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA) Shifts: The investigators recorded statistically significant shifts in frontal alpha asymmetry, a core metric reflecting hemispheric balance in processing approach versus withdrawal motivation and positive versus negative emotional valences.
Paired with behavioral response tasks, the FAA findings showed that active music therapy equipped patients with greater cognitive inhibition over negative emotional states, such as acute anger, irritability, and frustration, which frequently precede substance relapse.
“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,” explained Prof. Fachner.
Paving the Way for Larger Neuro-Music Trials
While the current sample size was limited due to the pilot nature of the study, the convergence of subjective psychometric ratings, qualitative interviews, and objective electrophysiological data indicates that music operates as a potent biophysical tool for recalibrating dysfunctional neural networks.
The ARU research team is currently structuring expanded, longitudinal trials to track how sustained musical neurorehabilitation impacts long-term sobriety rates, prevents relapse, and restores baseline prefrontal executive functioning in recovery communities.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- Journal paper reviewed in full.
- Additional context added by our staff.
About this addiction and music Research:
- Media Contact: Jon Green
- Source: Anglia Ruskin University
- Image Credit: Image credited to Neuroscience News
- Original Research is Open Access: Addiction Neuroscience (Sept 22, 2026). “Music therapy in community-based substance misuse treatment: Exploring psychometric, qualitative and EEG measures related to craving, inhibition and affective processing.” Authors: Filippo Pasqualitto, Clemens Maidhof, Paul Fernie, Daniel Murtagh, Devon De Silva, Francesca Panin, Andrew Michell, and Jörg Fachner.
- DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2026.100281
Abstract
Music therapy in community-based substance misuse treatment: Exploring psychometric, qualitative and EEG measures related to craving, inhibition and affective processing
Music therapy (MT) is a promising adjunctive intervention for substance use disorder (SUD), yet multi-modal studies integrating neural, psychometric and qualitative measures are lacking.
We conducted a mixed-methods pilot study with sixteen participants from a community-based substance-use treatment service to explore adjunctive MT plus standard treatment (ST) compared with ST alone. Participants received either six weekly MT sessions plus ST or ST alone. Assessments included resting-state and event-related electroencephalography, psychometric measures and semi-structured interviews addressing craving, affective symptoms, inhibitory control and participants’ therapeutic experiences.
Craving Thermometer ratings suggested immediate reductions in present-moment craving after MT sessions, indicating that the conscious perception of craving improvement may emerge primarily in the immediate post-session window. Baseline-adjusted analyses showed no significant group differences at post intervention in Brief Substance Craving Scale scores or resting-state beta power z-scores, although the latter showed a larger descriptive reduction in the MT group. MT and ST differed significantly in post-intervention frontal alpha asymmetry after baseline adjustment, identifying affective-motivational processing as a candidate domain for future research.
The MT group also showed a nominal, non-significant increase in P3d amplitude during a Go/NoGo task, suggesting response-inhibition-related EEG activity as a candidate signal for future investigation. Qualitative themes contextualised these findings by highlighting craving reduction, emotional reflection, reluctance to discuss craving and therapeutic connection.
This pilot supports combining session-level, psychometric, qualitative and EEG measures in community-based MT for SUD. Future trials with larger samples, robust allocation, clearer comparators and longer-term follow-up are needed.
