Autonomic function, voice, and mood states

Purpose The present study examined the relationships among cardiovascular autonomic, acoustic, and mood states in resting young subjects. Methods A total of 75 college students (men:women = 53:22), aged 19–24 years, were enrolled in this study. Each subject was asked to complete the profile of mood states and to produce a sustained vowel sound (/a/) for 3 s to calculate acoustic parameters. We calculated pulse rate variability (PRV) parameters such as low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), total power (TP) and the ratio of low frequency to high frequency power (LF/HF) by analyzing peak-to-peak intervals detected by photoplethysmography. Results Sympathovagal balance-related parameters such as LF/HF were dominant indicators of fatigue in men and women, whereas LF and HF were indicative of depression and anger in women. In terms of acoustic parameters, shimmer and standard deviation of the fundamental frequency (SD F 0 ), which were related to roughness and instability in voice quality, were indicative of tension and depression in men and women. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that mood states in resting young subjects can be estimated from PRV and acoustic parameters.