Complexity-based evaluation of the correlation between heart and brain responses to music

Abstract

The evaluation of the correlation between the activations of various organs has great importance. This work investigated the synchronization of the brain and heart responses to different auditory stimuli using complexity-based analysis. We selected three pieces of music based on the difference in the complexity of embedded noise (including white noise, brown noise, and pink noise) in them. We played these pieces of music for 11 subjects (7 M and 4 F) and computed the fractal dimension and sample entropy of EEG signals and R–R time series [as heart rate variability (HRV)]. We found strong correlations (r = 0.9999 in the case of fractal dimension and r = 0.7862 in the case of sample entropy) among the complexities of EEG signals and HRV. This finding demonstrates the synchronization of the brain and heart responses and auditory stimuli from the complexity perspective.