A new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, published online in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, reveals that use of a brief, noninvasive intervention offers meaningful relief for health care workers in the reduction of stress-related symptoms. This approach uses acoustic neuromodulation guided by each participant’s unique brainwave activity, creating tailored sound sequences that help restore balance and reduce stress-related symptoms.
“Health care workers are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety, and scalable, evidence-based interventions are urgently needed,” said Charles H. Tegeler, M.D., professor of neurology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the study.
Stress is the body’s response to threat, trauma or demanding situations. The brain activates and manages survival responses through the autonomic nervous system. Due to brain plasticity, with repetitive, or severe threats or traumas, stress responses can become the new normal, potentially leading to a host of adverse health outcomes.
Since 2011, the Brain Body Research Program at Wake Forest University School of Medicine has evaluated a closed-loop, acoustic neuromodulation technology (Cereset Research™), that translates brainwaves into personalized tones in near real time. The echoed tones engage the brain to harmonize, balance and quiet itself, getting unstuck from what have become stuck stress patterns.
In this study, 144 health care workers who had moderate to high levels of perceived stress took part in a trial. They were randomly placed into one of two groups: one group received four sessions of a sound-based relaxation intervention over two weeks, while the other group was put on a waitlist control group. Each session lasted about 36 minutes and involved relaxing in a zero-gravity chair with eyes closed.
The main goal was to see if this approach reduced stress levels, measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, after six to eight weeks. Researchers also looked at anxiety and sleep quality, and explored other areas such as mood, fatigue and thinking ability. The waitlist group was later offered the same relaxation sessions after the study ended.
Key Findings
- Participants reported meaningful reductions in stress, anxiety and insomnia.
- The study also showed significant reductions in symptoms of fatigue and depression, with improved subjective cognition. The intervention was brief, safe and well tolerated, with no serious adverse events.
- Unlike previous studies, this research included participants regardless of medication or substance use and streamlined the process with fewer, shorter sessions, making the approach more practical and accessible for real-world application.
“These results suggest that closed-loop acoustic neuromodulation is a safe, scalable, and effective option to complement organizational strategies for supporting health care worker brain health and well-being,” Tegeler said. “We are eager to identify ways to broadly offer the intervention to teammates across our health system and beyond.”
According to Tegeler, future studies are evaluating long term duration of benefits, the effect of periodic maintenance sessions and the impact of the intervention on the autonomic nervous system.
This study was supported by a research grant from The Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Inc. REDCap infrastructure for data collection and management was supported by NIH grant UL1TR00142.
Cereset Research is a registered trademark of Brain State Technologies, LLC based in Scottsdale, Arizona and has been licensed to Wake Forest University School of Medicine for collaborative research since 2011.