Trial reportPloS one2012
Matter over mind: a randomised-controlled trial of single-session biofeedback training on performance anxiety and heart rate variability in musicians.
Trial report in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 178 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methods for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRVB): A Systematic Review and Guidelines.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2023Pooled it
- Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Improves Emotional and Physical Health and Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of a 4-week combined breathing control and self-talk intervention on neural activity and coping skills in athletes: a randomized control trial.BMC psychology · 2026Trial
- A Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2026Trial
- Resonance frequency versus fixed 0.1 Hz breathing in HRV biofeedback: a four-week randomized comparison.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback for Substance Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Neurobiological and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of a Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing Technique Based on Neofunctional Psychotherapy: A Pilot RCT.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2024Trial
- Short-Term Effects of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback on Working Memory.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2024Trial
- The application of virtual reality exposure versus relaxation training in music performance anxiety: a randomized controlled study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Effects of arousal modulation via resonance breathing on craving and affect in women with substance use disorder.Addictive behaviors · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Efficacy of a Brief Biofeedback Intervention on Mood, Arousal, Mental Workload, Movement Time, and Biofeedback Device Preference.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2021Trial
- Novel Methodological Tools for Behavioral Interventions: The Case of HRV-Biofeedback. Sham Control and Quantitative Physiology-Based Assessment of Training Quality and Fidelity.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Trial
- Comparing Effectiveness of HRV-Biofeedback and Mindfulness for Workplace Stress Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2020Trial
- Exploring the Effects of a Brief Biofeedback Breathing Session Delivered Through the BioBase App in Facilitating Employee Stress Recovery: Randomized Experimental Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Trial
- Reduced anxiety in forensic inpatients after a long-term intervention with Atlantic salmon.Nutrients · 2014Trial
- Efficacy of Slow-Paced Breathing as a Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention for Anxiety-A Randomized Controlled Study.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2026Article
- Neural Mechanisms of Social Homeostasis: Dynamic Range Plasticity.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Under the spotlight: social anxiety and music performance anxiety in solo-exposed wind instrumentalists compared to section players in orchestra settings.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMusical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is often a profound source of anxiety. In other contexts, anxiety and its concomitant symptoms of sympathetic nervous system arousal have been successfully ameliorated with HRV biofeedback (HRV BF), a technique involving slow breathing which augments autonomic and emotional regulatory capacity.
objectiveThis randomised-controlled study explored the impact of a single 30-minute session of HRV BF on anxiety in response to a highly stressful music performance.
methodsA total of 46 trained musicians participated in this study and were randomly allocated to a slow breathing with or without biofeedback or no-treatment control group. A 3 Group×2 Time mixed experimental design was employed to compare the effect of group before and after intervention on performance anxiety (STAI-S) and frequency domain measures of HRV.
resultsSlow breathing groups (n=30) showed significantly greater improvements in high frequency (HF) and LF/HF ratio measures of HRV relative to control (n=15) during 5 minute recordings of performance anticipation following the intervention (effect size: η(2) =0.122 and η(2) =0.116, respectively). The addition of biofeedback to a slow breathing protocol did not produce differential results. While intervention groups did not exhibit an overall reduction in self-reported anxiety, participants with high baseline anxiety who received the intervention (n=15) displayed greater reductions in self-reported state anxiety relative to those in the control condition (n=7) (r=0.379).
conclusionsThese findings indicate that a single session of slow breathing, regardless of biofeedback, is sufficient for controlling physiological arousal in anticipation of psychosocial stress associated with music performance and that slow breathing is particularly helpful for musicians with high levels of anxiety. Future research is needed to further examine the effects of HRV BF as a low-cost, non-pharmacological treatment for music performance anxiety.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.