Stress Recovery Through Mindful Breathing: Convergent Neural Signatures in Around-Ear and Scalp EEG
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) April 24, 2026 Stephanie Nelli, Pachaya Sailamul, Waraset Wongsawat et al.
Mindful breathing meditation rapidly reduces stress-related brain activity in a context-dependent manner, with effects shaped by prior cognitive state and whether the eyes are open or closed. A factorial experiment manipulated cognitive state (mental arithmetic stress vs. passive viewing), recovery strategy (mindful breathing vs. mind-wandering), and sensory context (eyes open vs. closed). Mental arithmetic increased subjective stress, midline frontal theta power, and posterior beta and gamma power while suppressing posterior alpha power. Eyes-closed mindful breathing produced the greatest stress reduction. Around-ear EEG detected these neural signatures as reliably as full-coverage scalp recordings, supporting wearable neurotechnology for real-world stress monitoring and personalized mindfulness guidance.