Lightening the mind with audiovisual stimulation as an accessible alternative to breath-focused meditation for mood and cognitive enhancement.
Scientific reports October 26, 2024 Micah Alan Johnson, Ninette Simonian, Nicco Reggente 6 citations
A novel technique of audiovisual stimulation (AVS) substantially improves self-reported mood by reducing anxiety and depression and enhancing performance on mood-sensitive cognitive tasks. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind experiment with 262 participants, mood benefits from AVS closely aligned with those from breath-focused meditation. A brief AVS exposure of about five minutes may be sufficient or even optimal for improving mood to a comparable or greater degree than meditation sessions of 11 to 22 minutes. Most AVS effects were similar whether binaural beats were present or not and regardless of duration. AVS may offer a more accessible alternative to meditation.