Laure Zago

Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives UMR 5293 CNRS Université de Bordeaux

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Title

Effects of body-centred interventions on stress-related physiological markers and psychological well-being in women.

Abstract

Chronic stress is a major contributor to emotional dysregulation, cognitive decline, and increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases. Women are particularly affected, due to both heightened exposure to daily stressors and greater neuroendocrine sensitivity—especially during hormonally dynamic life stages. Beyond its internal physiological and brain consequences, chronic stress leaves a visible imprint on the face, the primary medium of emotional expression. Persistent muscle tension often accumulates in key facial regions involved in expressivity, resulting in reduced spontaneous facial movement, impaired emotional communication, and weakened social connection. Over time, such tension contributes to the premature emergence of visible aging markers. These external signs can fuel a negative feedback loop, further exacerbating psychological distress and promoting social withdrawal.

In this context, the development of accessible, non-pharmacological, and empirically validated interventions to alleviate both the emotional and visible manifestations of stress constitutes a growing public health priority. Here, I present findings from a pilot study investigating the acute effects of two face-centred interventions. These interventions are grounded in distinct yet complementary approaches: one employing passive, tactile-sensory myofascial stimulation through facial massage, and the other engaging interoceptive processes via audio-guided relaxation. Despite differing in modality and stimulation type, both interventions share core mechanisms of action—they are somatically anchored, follow a bottom-up regulatory model, and target the autonomic nervous system, particularly through parasympathetic activation via the vagus nerve. In a first step of the project, we examined the effects of these interventions on physiological markers of stress (HRV) and psychological indicators of subjective well-being, as well as mental and physical relaxation, in a sample of young adult women.

Biosketch

Laure Zago is a senior researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the Groupe d’Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN), within the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases (IMN) in Bordeaux. She earned her PhD in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Lyon in 2000. She then completed postdoctoral research at Harvard University and the Martinos Centre for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she investigated cognitive functions with fMRI. In 2003, she was appointed as a CNRS research fellow and established her research program at the Cyceron Centre in Caen, a major hub for biomedical imaging. In 2016, she joined the IMN, where she developed a research line focusing on brain lateralisation, cognition, and inter-individual variability. Her current work explores brain–body interactions, with a particular emphasis on the effects of body-centred interventions on physiological and brain markers related to stress, well-being, and women’s health.