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Updated: Jan 9, 2026
Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
Brain-Wave Music: A Personalized Approach to Improving Anxiety Resistance
Haohan Yang1, Yan Li2, Haoyu Bian2
1Yingcai Honors College, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, Sichuan, China.
Introduction:
Music has long been recognized for its potential to modulate anxiety resistance at the population level. However, there is a lack of an auditory method that performs general and effective in enhancing anxiety resistance. Here we investigate the impact of a specific music that directly reflects brain activity (brain-wave music [BWM]) on anxiety resistance and its underlying neural mechanisms.
Method:
A two-phase experimental protocol was designed utilizing the ToS anxiety induction paradigm to examine the efficacy of BWM in enhancing anxiety resistance. In Phase 1, resting-state EEG recordings were initially collected from 70 participants, followed by a standardized anxiety induction procedure involving auditory cues, to validate the effectiveness of the anxiety induction paradigm and establish baseline anxiety resistance for each participant. Phase 2, designed based on Phase 1 and conducted 24 h later, further investigated the neural mechanisms underlying anxiety regulation through brain-music intervention. Participants were randomly allocated into three groups: BWM (n = 30) group exposed to personalized EEG generated music, Preferred Music Control (PMC, n = 20) group to self-selected music, and silent control (SC, n = 20) to no auditory input. The anxiety induction procedure was then repeated in all groups. Anxiety levels were assessed through the state anxiety inventory (SAI) in both phases.
Results:
Compared to Phase 1 resting-state baseline, the BWM group exhibited significantly reduced SAI scores in Phase 2, accompanied by enhanced prefrontal theta oscillations and functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex, parietal lobe, and auditory cortex. No significant changes were observed in the other groups.
Discussion:
These findings suggest that BWM effectively promotes anxiety resistance by facilitating network connectivity between the prefrontal and multisensory regions. Moreover, this study highlights BWM as a novel and promising method for emotional regulation.
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