Assessing effects of vibroacoustic stimulation compared to a guided mindfulness meditation using the biosignal of human speech.
Charlotte Fooks, Oliver Niebuhr
Frontiers in Network Physiology 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fnetp.2026.1677209 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Exploratory pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Participants divided into three treatment groups |
| Interventions | guided mindfulness meditation vibroacoustic intervention |
| Duration | One 20-minute treatment |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Biosignal Network physiology Speech prosody Stress Vibroacoustic Well-being |
| Key points | Speech prosody is a sensitive biomarker for treatment-effect classification and evaluation, with intervention groups showing breathier vocal quality and control group showing tenser speech. |
Abstract
High stress and low wellbeing pose severe individual, societal and economic threats, and there is a pressing demand for non-invasive stress reduction tools. This exploratory pilot study assessed the efficacy of speech prosody as a biosignal for stress elicitation, when comparing relaxation outcomes of two interventions with a control group. Thirty participants were divided into three treatment groups; (1) guided mindfulness meditation (2) vibroacoustic intervention (3) control. All participants read aloud a text before and after one 20-min treatment. The sixty readings were assessed using a multi-parametric acoustic-prosodic analysis, and within-speaker differences were compared between the initial and final reading. Results show groups (1) and (2) spoke with a breathier vocal quality in the second reading, while group (3) speech was tenser and at a lower, less variable loudness. Results demonstrate speech prosody is a sensitive biomarker for treatment-effect classification and evaluation. Practical limitations and future research perspectives are discussed.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 5, 2015
- Meditation Effective in Reducing Teacher Burnout and Improving Resilience: A Randomized Controlled Study Frontiers in Education March 4, 2021
- Positive Emotional Experience: Induced by Vibroacoustic Stimulation Using a Body Monochord in Patients with Psychosomatic Disorders: Is Associated with an Increase in EEG-Theta and a Decrease in EEG-Alpha Power. Brain Topography March 2, 2016