Effect of a humorous audio-visual stimulus on autonomic nervous system and heart of females (original) (raw)

This study was an attempt to recognize the effect of a humorous audio-visual stimulus on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the heart physiology of females. Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals were acquired from eleven female volunteers under pre- and post-stimulus conditions. Heart rate variability (HRV) and time-domain ECG analyses were performed to non-invasively realize the effect of the humorous audio-visual stimulus on the ANS and heart physiology, respectively. HRV analysis suggested an increase in the parasympathetic activity during post-stimulus period. Time-domain analysis of ECG signals suggested a post-stimulus alteration in the electrical activity of the heart. Artificial neural network (ANN) classification resulted in an efficiency of ≥ 85% in both HRV and time-domain ECG analyses.