A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study
Stress significantly impacts our society, making strategies for its mitigation necessary. A possible approach may involve binaural beats (BBs), i.e., an auditory stimulation obtained by presenting pure tones with slightly different frequencies to the user’s ears, resulting in a third phantom beat &l...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| author | Matteo Raggi Stefania Chiri Silvestro Roatta Rosita Rabbito Luca Mesin |
| author_facet | Matteo Raggi Stefania Chiri Silvestro Roatta Rosita Rabbito Luca Mesin |
| author_sort | Matteo Raggi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Stress significantly impacts our society, making strategies for its mitigation necessary. A possible approach may involve binaural beats (BBs), i.e., an auditory stimulation obtained by presenting pure tones with slightly different frequencies to the user’s ears, resulting in a third phantom beat <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><msub><mi>f</mi><mrow><mi>B</mi><mi>B</mi></mrow></msub><mo>)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. While studies in the literature investigate the effects of BBs at a constant stimulation frequency, with this pilot study, we present an innovative approach that adapts the beat frequency in real time within the theta range (4.0–8.0 Hz) to reduce acute mental stress. A stress index, obtained from the predictions of a random forest regressor, was considered to adjust the stimulation. The regressor considered features from an electrocardiogram (ECG) and the ECG-derived respiratory signal. Thirteen healthy subjects underwent a stressful protocol involving multiple mental arithmetic tasks during which constant (CBB) or adapted (ABB) stimulation occurred. Task performances like accuracy and reaction times were recorded. The results show that ABBs significantly lowered the average stress index (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo><</mo><mn>0.05</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and heart rate (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo><</mo><mn>0.05</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) compared to CBBs. No statistically significant differences were detected in task performance. The results support the importance of adaptive and personalized approaches for mitigating stress. Future research is necessary to assess the goodness of our proposal, considering a larger sample, different stressors, and an objective and external assessment of stress (e.g., cortisol levels). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d0cedc26ae424ce4b27f6985eb072414 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-d0cedc26ae424ce4b27f6985eb0724142025-08-20T03:14:40ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-05-011510574210.3390/app15105742A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot StudyMatteo Raggi0Stefania Chiri1Silvestro Roatta2Rosita Rabbito3Luca Mesin4Department Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Torino, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Torino, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, ItalyStress significantly impacts our society, making strategies for its mitigation necessary. A possible approach may involve binaural beats (BBs), i.e., an auditory stimulation obtained by presenting pure tones with slightly different frequencies to the user’s ears, resulting in a third phantom beat <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>(</mo><msub><mi>f</mi><mrow><mi>B</mi><mi>B</mi></mrow></msub><mo>)</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. While studies in the literature investigate the effects of BBs at a constant stimulation frequency, with this pilot study, we present an innovative approach that adapts the beat frequency in real time within the theta range (4.0–8.0 Hz) to reduce acute mental stress. A stress index, obtained from the predictions of a random forest regressor, was considered to adjust the stimulation. The regressor considered features from an electrocardiogram (ECG) and the ECG-derived respiratory signal. Thirteen healthy subjects underwent a stressful protocol involving multiple mental arithmetic tasks during which constant (CBB) or adapted (ABB) stimulation occurred. Task performances like accuracy and reaction times were recorded. The results show that ABBs significantly lowered the average stress index (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo><</mo><mn>0.05</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and heart rate (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo><</mo><mn>0.05</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) compared to CBBs. No statistically significant differences were detected in task performance. The results support the importance of adaptive and personalized approaches for mitigating stress. Future research is necessary to assess the goodness of our proposal, considering a larger sample, different stressors, and an objective and external assessment of stress (e.g., cortisol levels).https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/10/5742neurostimulationstressbinaural beatsECGmachine learningstress mitigation |
| spellingShingle | Matteo Raggi Stefania Chiri Silvestro Roatta Rosita Rabbito Luca Mesin A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study Applied Sciences neurostimulation stress binaural beats ECG machine learning stress mitigation |
| title | A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study |
| title_full | A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study |
| title_short | A Novel Approach for Acute Mental Stress Mitigation Through Adapted Binaural Beats: A Pilot Study |
| title_sort | novel approach for acute mental stress mitigation through adapted binaural beats a pilot study |
| topic | neurostimulation stress binaural beats ECG machine learning stress mitigation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/10/5742 |
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