Stronger autonomic response accompanies better learning: A test of Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis

Abstract

According to Damasio's (1994, 1999) somatic marker hypothesis (SMH), positive and negative events are “marked” by bodily feelings. These markers aid future adaptive learning by producing signals to warn against or affirm behavioural options. An implicit assumption of the SMH is that the stronger the signal is, the stronger the resultant behaviour will be. In this study, we tested 30 healthy women on a gambling task (Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994), while measuring skin conductance responses. For half of the participants, real money was used, and for half, fake money was used. Success on the task was positively correlated with anticipatory autonomic response, with no difference in pattern between real and fake money conditions. The results show clear support for Damasio's SMH, and suggest that it can be used to predict learning performance within a healthy population.