Neurofeedback and music showed preliminary improvements in anxiety scores
A randomized crossover trial reported larger anxiety-score reductions and more positive feelings with EEG-guided visual feedback and personalized music than with an unspecified control condition.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The combined neurofeedback and music intervention showed larger reductions in anxiety scores after treatment than the control condition. Participants also reported more positive feelings and a better experience. These preliminary results concern measured symptoms and engagement; the abstract does not establish lasting improvement, recovery from an anxiety disorder or which component contributed most.
This abstract-based account cannot assess participant characteristics, sample size, intervention length or control content because these are omitted. Confidence intervals for the reported effects are also absent.
What researchers found
Greater reduction in anxiety scores (STAI)
After intervention, neurofeedback plus music versus control: the estimated difference in reductions was 1.05 standard deviations, units based on score variability. This is not anxiety-scale points or a percentage reduction; assessment timing is unspecified.
How the system worked
Researchers linked EEG signals with emotional states and visual and musical parameters. The system then used those signals to deliver visual feedback and personalized music in real time, combining several components within the intervention.
Participants' experience
People receiving neurofeedback reported greater motivation to participate and a more favorable experience than controls. These findings describe engagement with the system; the abstract does not show whether that experience translated into sustained symptom improvement.
The original publication
An anxiety regulation framework with a positive emotion-guided strategy: Integrating EEG neurofeedback and music intervention.
Li J, Fang D, Zhang J et al.
Biol Psychol · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41016499
- Record checked
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