Against the backdrop of a dramatic increase in levels of stress, anxiety and burnout since the October 7 war, a new Israeli study offers an objective way to identify individuals at psychological and physiological risk—even before clear clinical symptoms emerge.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Shamir Academic School of Nursing have developed an innovative method that uses a small, simple EEG sensor to determine whether a person is experiencing psychological stress or cognitive effort, such as learning, decision-making or problem-solving.
The study, published in the prestigious International Journal of Psychophysiology, included 101 adults who participated in Israel’s first forest medicine study. Participants completed a series of cognitive and emotional tasks in a natural forest environment. At the same time, brain activity, salivary cortisol levels and heart-rate variability were measured—three objective indicators reflecting the body and mind’s response to stressful situations.
The findings showed that the brain activates different mechanisms when a person is facing a threat or emotional stress compared with situations requiring cognitive effort. The researchers were able to identify unique “brain signatures” for each state, thereby distinguishing, for the first time, between physiological arousal resulting from stress and cognitive effort.
According to the research team, this breakthrough could eventually enable the development of simple, rapid and accessible tests for the early detection of burnout, anxiety, psychological distress and post-traumatic stress among medical professionals, educators, security personnel and other populations exposed to prolonged stress.
“The ability to objectively measure what is happening in the brain in real time could change the way we identify and treat stress-related conditions,” the researchers explain. “Until now, we have relied primarily on questionnaires and self-reporting. We can now begin to understand the difference between someone who is working hard and someone experiencing genuine physiological distress.”
