A new global study led by the University of Jyväskylä reveals that our most emotionally resonant music tends to come from our teenage years—peaking around age 17. This pronounced pattern, known as the “reminiscence bump”, reflects our tendency to form the strongest emotional ties to music from our teenage years. This "bump” helps explain why songs from adolescence often remain deeply meaningful even decades later. Yet the pattern isn’t fixed: its intensity shifts across the lifespan and reveals different trends for men and women.

In a new study, researchers at WashU Medicine mined an enormous set of data collected from pre-teens and teens across the U.S. and found that conflicts with family or peers were the strongest predictors of near- and long-term mental health issues. Biological sex was also an important predictor, with girls experiencing more and worse mental health challenges than boys.