Hearing laughter improves the recovery process of the autonomic nervous system after a stress-loading task: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: It has become necessary to develop mental health management methods that do not require specialized skills or tools to implement. With this in mind, we performed a subjective and objective investigation of the stress-reducing effect of hearing laughter. METHODS: Ninety healthy students were randomly assigned to a laughter (n = 45) or rest (n = 45) group. Both groups were then administered the Uchida-Kraepelin test for 15 min, which served as a stress-loading method. The laughter group listened to a specially prepared CD for five minutes, while the rest group rested for five minutes. The participants’ subjective stress level was assessed using a visual analogue scale and their physiological status was assessed by measuring blood pressure and monitoring heart rate variability. RESULTS: The visual analogue scale score for subjective stress was found to decrease significantly in both the laughter and rest groups after the intervention. However, a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed significant interaction and main effects for the change in heart rate and the natural logarithm of the high-frequency component of heart rate variability (lnHF). A post-hoc analysis using Dunnett’s test showed that hearing laughter caused the lnHF to significantly increase compared to that recorded during the Uchida-Kraepelin test and the rest period. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that hearing laughter might produce a relaxing effect by increasing parasympathetic nervous activity. This would make it an easily accessible method for improving the recovery process of the autonomic nervous system after a stress-loading task that does not require specialized skills or tools. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN000016422. Retrospectively registered on 2 February 2015. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13030-018-0141-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.