ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EEG/MEG MEASURES AND MENTAL STRESS IN HEALTHY ADULTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Mental stress substantially affects mental and physical health, motivating interest in objective stress assessment methods. Electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) have been proposed as candidate tools. Previous studies have examined associations between neural indices, such as spectral power and event-related potentials (ERPs), and physiological, psychological, or behavioral measures of stress. However, inconsistent results across studies leave the reliability of EEG/MEG-based stress markers unclear.

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate associations between EEG/MEG indices and mental stress in healthy adults. We performed a comprehensive search of six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, JDreamIII, and Ichu-shi) to identify original peer-reviewed studies published from database inception to January 11, 2023 that reported correlations between EEG/MEG measures and stress-related references. Eligible studies were synthesized qualitatively, and those assessed as having low risk of bias were included in a random-effects meta-analysis.

In total, 128 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis, with 42 studies contributing to the meta-analysis. No significant overall association was observed between EEG/MEG indices and stress-related references. ERPs showed a small but statistically significant positive association with stress indices (pooled r=0.148), although the number of contributing studies was limited. No consistent associations were found for spectral power, power asymmetry, frequency-specific measures, electrode locations, or for correlations with cortisol, electrocardiogram-derived autonomic indices, or questionnaire-based stress measures.