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Music activates regions of the brain related to sound processing, emotional regulation, and reward. As research on music and neuroscience grows, experts in the field are using functional neuroimaging studies to uncover the impact that music has on brain development, mood, mental health, and identity formation in youth.
Understanding these can help guide teen mental health treatment, incorporating music therapy as a tool to support healing and recovery.
How Music Impacts Emotional and Cognitive Development in Adolescence
The effects of music on the brain shape emotional and cognitive growth in teens. Listening to music engages the reward system, especially in youth who may be more emotionally sensitive to music. Some of the key brain regions affected by music include [1] [2] [3]:
- Auditory cortex: Region responsible for processing auditory information (sound).
- Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC): Essential for reward processing and emotional regulation, functional MRI studies show that listening to music in adolescents can strengthen emotional control by supporting the reward network in the OFC.
- Insula network: Links emotional sensitivity to music experience by engaging the reward circuits’ response to music.
- Hippocampus and amygdala: Activated when music is tied to emotional memories, trauma, or nervous system response.
Music as Self-Expression: How Taste is Shaped
Music also plays a role in identity formation and self-expression, allowing teens to channel emotions and share their inner world with peers, parents, or other loved ones. Musical style, genre, and lyrics are a deep reflection of one’s identity, personality, and emotions.
For teens who struggle to verbalize what they are feeling, music can act as a voice for emotions that are difficult to put into words. Youth also use music to represent who they are, who they want to be, and to find communities with like-minded peers [4].
Music tastes are also often influenced by one’s culture. Teens may enjoy music more if they are familiar with it or grew up hearing it. For example, research has found that people in the global West tend to prefer certain chords and harmonies more than groups in the East [5].
Music as A Tool for Healing
Music acts as self-expression and aids in emotional processing. At varying tempos and beats, music can support teens with different emotions and moods. Teens often report using music to study, work out, sleep, and cope with mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, or ADHD. Some common kinds of music teens use in their everyday life include:
Calming music often has slow or soothing tones, and minimal or no lyrics to reduce activity in the central nervous system. Teens use this to wind down, sleep, and reduce stress.
Study music or focus music has minimal or no lyrics and a repetitive beat. Teens use this to increase focus.
Workout music is often upbeat, energetic, and has strong rhythms. These might include genres such as pop, hard rock, rap, electronic, or reggaeton. This kind of music stimulates the brain’s reward system and boosts motivation.
Music in group settings, such as classes, chorus, band, and mental health music therapy groups, can improve social skills, foster a sense of community, and reduce feelings of isolation in teens who struggle with depression. Music is often implemented in mental health treatment programs for youth in individual and group settings, often as a way to complement traditional talk therapies.
When Music Does More Harm Than Good
Although music is often used as a healing tool for mental health recovery, it can also cause teens harm in some situations. A few ways music can be harmful to developing teens include [1]:
- Rumination: Listening to sad or negative music can increase feelings of depression and anxiety, and cause teens to ruminate on their negative thoughts. Instead of providing support and comfort, repeatedly playing sad music can worsen mood.
- Inappropriate Content: Teens who are already at-risk for behavioral problems and listen to songs with violent or sexually explicit lyrics may be at an increased risk of aggression, substance abuse, and unsafe sex.
- Reduced Hearing: Blasting music is associated with hearing loss and ringing of the ears (tinnitus).
- Distracting: Music with lyrics can be distracting when studying, working, or doing a task that requires focus, potentially impacting academic performance in teens.
Healing Through Music Therapy for Teens at Clearfork Academy
Clearfork Academy is a network of behavioral health facilities in Texas committed to helping teens recover from behavioral addictions, substance abuse, and mental health disorders. Our licensed and accredited facility is dedicated to providing comprehensive, evidence-based care and education for parents and caregivers of youth.
We help teens heal through the power of music therapy, enabling them to process trauma and complex emotions and express themselves in a creative outlet. Reach out to our Admissions team, we can help your family.
Sources
[1] Chen L. (2023). Influence of music on the hearing and mental health of adolescents and countermeasures. Frontiers in neuroscience, 17, 1236638.
[2] Kringelbach, M. L. (2023). The early adolescent brain on music: Analysis of functional dynamics reveals engagement of orbitofrontal cortex reward system. Human brain mapping, 44(2), 429–446.
[3] Tamer, R. et al. (2023). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, behavior, & immunity – health, 35, 100716.
[4] Campbell, Meagan. 2019. Self Expression Through Music. University of Lynchburg.
[5] Akrami, H. 2017. Culture Modulates the Brain Response to Harmonic Violations: An EEG Study on Hierarchical Syntactic Structure in Music. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Founder & CEO
Originally from the Saginaw, Eagle Mountain area, Austin Davis earned a Bachelor of Science in Pastoral Ministry from Lee University in Cleveland, TN and a Master of Arts in Counseling from The Church of God Theological Seminary. He then went on to become a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor in the State of Texas.
Austin’s professional history includes both local church ministry and clinical counseling. At a young age, he began serving youth at the local church in various capacities which led to clinical training and education. Austin gained a vast knowledge of mental health disorders while working in state and public mental health hospitals. This is where he was exposed to almost every type of diagnosis and carries this experience into the daily treatment.
Austin’s longtime passion is Clearfork Academy, a christ-centered residential facility focused on mental health and substance abuse. He finds joy and fulfillment working with “difficult” clients that challenge his heart and clinical skill set. It is his hope and desire that each resident that passes through Clearfork Academy will be one step closer to their created design.
Austin’s greatest pleasures in life are being a husband to his wife, and a father to his growing children. He serves at his local church by playing guitar, speaking and helping with tech arts. Austin also enjoys being physically active, reading, woodworking, and music.
