The neural correlates of psychosocial stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis of spectral analysis EEG studies

Vanhollebeke, Gert; Smet, Stefanie De; Raedt, Rudi De; Baeken, Chris; Mierlo, Pieter van; Vanderhasselt, Marie‐Anne

doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2022.100452

Cited by 40 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 127 publications

(382 reference statements)

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“…Connectivity methods and spectral and asymmetry characteristics have been studied as stress markers. Frontal Alpha Asymmetry and frontal power have also been used as stress indicators [ 5 , 42 ]. However, studies that imported FAA or frontal activity to evaluate stress used mathematical or social ordeals as the stressful experience [ 43 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Electroencephalography as a Stress Indicator: A VR High-Altitude Scenario Monitored through EEG and ECG

Aspiotis

Miltiadous

Kalafatakis

et al. 2022

Sensors

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Over the last decade, virtual reality (VR) has become an increasingly accessible commodity. Head-mounted display (HMD) immersive technologies allow researchers to simulate experimental scenarios that would be unfeasible or risky in real life. An example is extreme heights exposure simulations, which can be utilized in research on stress system mobilization. Until recently, electroencephalography (EEG)-related research was focused on mental stress prompted by social or mathematical challenges, with only a few studies employing HMD VR techniques to induce stress. In this study, we combine a state-of-the-art EEG wearable device and an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor with a VR headset to provoke stress in a high-altitude scenarios while monitoring EEG and ECG biomarkers in real time. A robust pipeline for signal clearing is implemented to preprocess the noise-infiltrated (due to movement) EEG data. Statistical and correlation analysis is employed to explore the relationship between these biomarkers with stress. The participant pool is divided into two groups based on their heart rate increase, where statistically important EEG biomarker differences emerged between them. Finally, the occipital-region band power changes and occipital asymmetry alterations were found to be associated with height-related stress and brain activation in beta and gamma bands, which correlates with the results of the self-reported Perceived Stress Scale questionnaire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Electroencephalography as a Stress Indicator: A VR High-Altitude Scenario Monitored through EEG and ECG

Aspiotis

Miltiadous

Kalafatakis

et al. 2022

Sensors

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“…However, the existing evidence on EEG and stress shows high diversity and heterogeneity of results, being all bands from delta to gamma involved in stress elicitation. Some studies suggest that different dimensions of stress are associated with the interactions between different frequency bands, such as alpha-beta interactions [10,34,35], thetabeta interactions [34,36], alpha-gamma interactions [37][38][39], and theta-alpha interactions [38].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic fluctuations in ascending heart–to–brain communication under mental stress

Candia-Rivera

Norouzi

Ramsøy

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Previous endeavors have revealed how the dynamical information exchange between central and autonomous nervous systems, as measured from brain-heart interplay, can explain emotional arousal and physical stress. In this study, we test our recently proposed computational framework for a functional brain-heart interplay assessment; the Sympatho-Vagal Synthetic Data Generation Model. The model estimates the causal and bidirectional neural modulations between EEG oscillations and sympathetic/parasympathetic activity. Here, mental stress is elicited by increasing the cognitive demand and quantified on 37 human volunteers. The increase on mental stress induced an increased variability on heart-to-brain functional interplay, primarily from sympathetic activity on EEG oscillations in the delta and beta bands. Existing theoretical and experimental evidence has shown that stress involves top-down neural dynamics in the brain. Therefore, our results show that mental stress involves dynamic and bidirectional neural interactions at a brain-body level as well, where bodily feedback shapes the perceived stress caused by an increased cognitive demand. We conclude that brain-heart interplay estimators are suitable biomarkers for stress measurements.

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“…The lateralized reference in the Dreem headband (FP2) will be taken into consideration when interpreting any frontal alpha asymmetry results, as this could produce false positive results. Although these exploratory analyses were not shown to have significant responses to a stressor based on the meta-analysis conducted by Vanhollebeke and colleagues ( Vanhollebeke et al, 2022 ), the focus here will be on whether neural activity in these frequency bands significantly modulates in response to the stressor and the specific sensory stimuli during the recovery epochs, which to our knowledge has not been previously examined.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Electroencephalography analyses will be conducted mainly in python using the MNE toolbox ( Gramfort et al, 2013 ). As the primary outcome, we will compare alpha spectral power (8-13Hz) before, during, and after the stress epoch, as this has been shown to significantly decrease in response to a stressor ( Vanhollebeke et al, 2022 ). As exploratory analyses, we will compare spectral power before, during, and after the stress epoch in the theta (4-8Hz), beta (13-32Hz), and gamma/high-gamma (32-100Hz) frequency bands similar to Arsalan and colleagues ( Arsalan et al, 2019 ), as well as frontal alpha asymmetry similar to prior studies ( Quaedflieg et al, 2015 ; Ehrhardt et al, 2021 ; Hu et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neural activity recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) has been shown to detect changes in spectral power during different epochs of a stress induction task. In a systematic review, Vanhollebeke and colleagues found alpha power has been shown to decrease in the presence of a stressor, which was not found in other frequency bands ( Vanhollebeke et al, 2022 ). In recent years, wearable devices have been developed to allow for mobile EEG recordings to study how neural activity changes in response to stress ( Schlink et al, 2017 ) or to different sensory stimuli ( Mazurek et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating How Auditory and Visual Stimuli Promote Recovery After Stress With Potential Applications for Workplace Stress and Burnout: Protocol for a Randomized Trial

Byun

Aristizabal

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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BackgroundWork-related stress is one of the top sources of stress amongst working adults. Relaxation rooms are one organizational strategy being used to reduce workplace stress. Amongst healthcare workers, relaxation rooms have been shown to improve perceived stress levels after 15 min of use. However, few studies have examined physiological and cognitive changes after stress, which may inform why relaxation rooms reduce perceived stress. Understanding the biological mechanisms governing why perceived stress improves when using a relaxation room could lead to more effective strategies to address workplace stress.ObjectiveThe purpose of this research study is to understand how physiological measures, cognitive performance, and perceived stress change after acute stress and whether certain sensory features of a relaxation room are more effective at promoting recovery from stress.Methods80 healthy adults will perform a stress induction task (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST) to evaluate how physiological and cognitive responses after stress are affected by sensory features of a relaxation room. After the stress induction task, participants will recover for 40 min in a MindBreaks™ relaxation room containing auditory and visual stimuli designed to promote relaxation. Participants will be randomized into four cohorts to experience auditory and visual stimuli; auditory stimuli; visual stimuli; or no stimuli in the room. Measures of heart rate and neural activity will be continuously monitored using wearable devices. Participants will perform working memory assessments and rate their perceived stress levels throughout the experiment. These measures will be compared before and after the stress induction task to determine how different sensory stimuli affect the rate at which individuals recover.ResultsRecruitment started in December 2021 and will continue until December 2022 or until enrollment is completed. Final data collection and subsequent analysis are anticipated by December 2022. We expect all trial results will be available by early 2023.DiscussionFindings will provide data and information about which sensory features of a relaxation room are most effective at promoting recovery after acute stress. This information will be useful in determining how these features might be effective at creating individualized and organizational strategies for mitigating the effects of workplace stress.

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The neural correlates of psychosocial stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis of spectral analysis EEG studies

Cited by 40 publications

References 127 publications

Assessing Electroencephalography as a Stress Indicator: A VR High-Altitude Scenario Monitored through EEG and ECG

Assessing Electroencephalography as a Stress Indicator: A VR High-Altitude Scenario Monitored through EEG and ECG

Dynamic fluctuations in ascending heart–to–brain communication under mental stress

Investigating How Auditory and Visual Stimuli Promote Recovery After Stress With Potential Applications for Workplace Stress and Burnout: Protocol for a Randomized Trial

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