New Study Findings – “Comparable to gold-standard clinical treatments”

New MindGym Study – 31% Anxiety Reduction in Under 12 Minutes

What if clinically meaningful stress reduction didn’t take weeks — but minutes?

High-stakes professions demand clarity, emotional regulation, and rapid recovery under pressure. Pilots, operators, healthcare professionals, and executives are often required to perform at a high level while carrying accumulated stress. Traditional approaches—therapy, training protocols, or medication—can be effective, but typically require weeks of sustained effort.

A recent study examining Lumena’s MindGym explored a different question:

Can a short, immersive intervention produce immediate and measurable improvements in stress-related state?

The Study

Researchers evaluated the psychological impact of a single MindGym session, focusing on real-time changes in validated measures of stress and performance.

Key areas measured included:

• State anxiety (STAI)
• Mood disturbance (POMS)
• Tension, fatigue, and depression-related affect
• Flow state

These measures were assessed before and after the session, capturing immediate shifts in psychological state.

Key Findings

31% Reduction in Anxiety — In Under 12 Minutes

Participants experienced:

• 31% reduction in state anxiety
• 13-point average decrease (STAI)
• Large effect size (d = 1.37)

In clinical terms, this represents a substantial and meaningful shift in psychological state.

To provide context:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): d ≈ 1.30
• Relaxation training: d ≈ 1.36
• Pharmacological interventions: d ≈ 2.0+ (over 8–12 weeks)

In minutes, MindGym achieved comparable magnitude in a single session.

Broad Improvements Across Burnout-Related States

The intervention demonstrated improvements across multiple domains:

• Depressed mood (d = 1.16)
• Tension (d = 1.05)
• Fatigue (d = 0.94)

Participants also experienced a significant increase in flow state, associated with:

• Enhanced focus
• Improved engagement
• Greater performance readiness

These findings suggest system-wide nervous system regulation, not just isolated symptom relief.

Outperforming Comparable Interventions

Compared to similar light-based or meditation interventions:

• 2–3x larger effect sizes
• ~31% anxiety reduction vs. ~11–12% in comparators

This represents a step-change in both magnitude and efficiency.

Key Takeaway

These results provide a strong signal that rapid, non-pharmacological interventions can produce meaningful changes in psychological state. The magnitude and speed of these effects point to new possibilities for how stress regulation and performance support can be delivered.

As understanding of immersive, neuroscience-driven environments continues to evolve, approaches like MindGym play an increasingly important role in shaping how individuals and organizations manage stress, recovery, and cognitive readiness.

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Expert Perspective

“What makes these findings compelling is not just the magnitude of change, but the clear advantage MindGym demonstrated relative to other non-pharmacological interventions studied under similar conditions. We observed reductions in state anxiety comparable to gold-standard clinical treatments, yet delivered in a single session.

The effect sizes substantially exceeded those reported for comparable light-based or meditation interventions. From a neuroscience perspective, this suggests we are engaging core mechanisms of stress regulation and neural state shifting in a way that is both efficient and measurably distinct.”

— Nicco Reggente, Ph.D.

Nicco Reggente, Ph.D., Research Director

Nicco Reggente, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and co-founder of the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies (IACS) where he currently serves as Research Director. The overarching theme of his research is the development of neuroimaging-informed, personalized neurotechnology to help individuals achieve desired outcomes. Nicco’s research has spanned the domains of memory, consciousness, and psychiatric disorders. His current focus is on leveraging immersive technology to induce maximally beneficial qualia (e.g. meditative, entheogenic states) that can be captured and re-instantiated via neurofeedback. Dr. Reggente is passionate about creating research environments that combine academic rigor with startup culture, permitting for rapid deployment of empirically validated and ecologically valid neurotechnology. He currently serves as Principal Investigator on all research projects at IACS.