Stress Through Audition: Uptake, Recovery, Oscillations During Nature Exposure (SAURON)

A Stress Study Through Auditory Soundscapes: Uptake, Recovery and Cerebral Oscillations During Nature Versus Urban Exposure

The protocol the investigators propose aims to address certain gaps by developing a multimodal paradigm, based on:

• Induction of acute stress via the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST), a standardised protocol recognised for its effectiveness in activating both the HPA axis and the autonomic nervous system.
• A 10-minute auditory exposure to two types of soundscapes (natural vs urban), designed in accordance with ecological standards (recordings taken from real-world environments and featuring representative natural and anthropogenic sound components, with the aim of making the stimulus as close as possible to real-life experiences).
• A battery of synchronised, multimodal measurements, including hormonal measurements (salivary cortisol at 10 time points), continuous autonomic nervous system measurements (HR, HRV, BP), a high-density EEG and analysis via EEG Source Imaging (ESI), a battery of cognitive tests typically sensitive to stress (Continuous Visual Attention Task, N-back, Delay Discounting Task), and a light polysomnography study conducted at home to assess delayed effects on sleep.

This design will enable the investigators to examine, as comprehensively as possible, the dynamics of post-stress recovery across several levels of analysis (biological, cerebral, cognitive and behavioural). It will also enable the investigators to identify the specific effects of the sound environment on each of these levels. By cross-referencing neurophysiological, hormonal and behavioural responses, we hope to document how natural sound environments actively regulate stress and cognition and to explore the mechanisms involved.

This project could pave the way for applications in mental health, preventive neuroscience, acoustic urban planning and non-pharmacological interventions, by providing a rigorous scientific foundation to support recommendations for the design or management of stress in professional, educational or clinical settings.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Environment; Stress (Psychology)
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Natural soundscape auditory exposure; Behavioral: Urban soundscape auditory exposure

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Frédéric Pr Frédéric Haesebaert, PhD; Phone Number: +33 (0)4 37 91 55 34; Email: frederic.haesebaert@ch-le-vinatier.fr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Jérôme Dr Jérôme BRUNELIN; Phone Number: +33 (0)4 37 91 55 65; Email: jerome.brunelin@ch-le-vinatier.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men and women between 18 and 45 years of age inclusive;
• Informed about the study and having signed the consent form;
• With normal vision (with or without correction);
• Able to understand the experimental instructions;
• Covered by the French social security system;
• Proficient in spoken, read, and written French.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having a vision or hearing impairment that could prevent the proper performance of tasks involving reading on a screen or paper and listening to auditory stimuli;
• Being a smoker;
• Having a somatic condition, particularly a neurological or endocrine disorder, or a circulatory disorder in the extremities (Raynaud's disease);
• Having or having had a personal or first-degree family history of diagnosed psychiatric disorders (according to Axis 1 of the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM-5);
• Taking medication (except for oral contraceptives);
• Being pregnant or breastfeeding;
• Being under a protective measure (guardianship, conservatorship, protective order, etc.)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Participants exposed to the natural soundscape; Participants undergo the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST) to induce acute stress, followed by a 10-minute auditory exposure to a standardized natural soundscape delivered via headphones. Physiological (cortisol, HR, HRV, BP), cerebral (high-density EEG with source imaging), and cognitive measures are collected before and after the stress induction and the soundscape exposure.	Behavioral: Natural soundscape auditory exposure; 10-minute passive auditory exposure to a standardized natural soundscape assembled from real-world recordings normalized and characterized. Delivered via headphones in a seated, resting position immediately following MAST-induced acute stress. Single administration per participant
Active Comparator: Participants exposed to the urban soundscape; Participants undergo the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST) to induce acute stress, followed by a 10-minute auditory exposure to a standardized urban soundscape delivered via headphones. Physiological (cortisol, HR, HRV, BP), cerebral (high-density EEG with source imaging), and cognitive measures are collected before and after the stress induction and the soundscape exposure.	Behavioral: Urban soundscape auditory exposure; 10-minute passive auditory exposure to a standardized urban soundscape assembled from real-world recordings normalized and characterized. Delivered via headphones in a seated, resting position immediately following MAST-induced acute stress. Single administration per participant.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in salivary cortisol concentration following acute stress and a natural soundscape exposure.	Salivary cortisol will be measured as a biological marker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, in response to an acute stress induction (MAST) followed by a 10-minute auditory exposure to a natural soundscape.	Day 1
Change in salivary cortisol concentration following acute stress and an urban soundscape exposure.	Salivary cortisol will be measured as a biological marker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, in response to an acute stress induction (MAST) followed by a 10-minute auditory exposure to an urban soundscape.	Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Post-stress cognitive performance across sustained attention task for the urban soundscape arm.	Cognitive performance assessed via computerized task: the Continuous Visual Attention Task (CVAT, sustained attention) for the urban soundscape arm.	Day 1
Post-stress cognitive performance across sustained attention task for the natural soundscape arm.	Cognitive performance assessed via computerized task: the Continuous Visual Attention Task (CVAT, sustained attention) for the natural soundscape arm.	Day 1
Post-stress cognitive performance across working memory task for the urban soundscape arm.	Cognitive performance assessed via computerized task: the N-back task (working memory) for the urban soundscape arm.	Day 1
Post-stress cognitive performance across working memory task for the natural soundscape arm.	Cognitive performance assessed via computerized task: the N-back task (working memory) for the natural soundscape arm.	Day 1
Post-stress cognitive performance across decision-making task for the urban soundscape arm.	Cognitive performance assessed via computerized task: the Delay Discounting Task (decision-making) for the urban soundscape arm.	Day 1
Post-stress cognitive performance across decision-making task for the natural soundscape arm.	Cognitive performance assessed via computerized task: the Delay Discounting Task (decision-making) for the natural soundscape arm.	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hôpital le Vinatier

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 16, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 29, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): October 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 29, 2026
• Last Verified: September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: PRVT-03

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No