Electrodermal Reactions Research Articles

Not a matter of shape: The influence of tool characteristics on electrodermal activity in response to haptic exploration of Lower Palaeolithic tools.

Haptics involves somatosensory perception through the skin surface and dynamic touch based on the proprioceptive response of the whole body. Handling Palaeolithic stone tools influences the arousal and attentional engagement, which can be detected and measured through electrodermal activity. Although tool shape has generally been studied to consider tool functions or tool making, it is also a major factor in tool sensing and haptic perception. The purpose of this survey is to analyze whether the electrodermal reactions are influenced by stone tool morphology. We first quantify the morphological variability of 72 stone tools through geometric morphometrics. Then, 12 stone tools from the previous sample were randomly selected to perform the electrodermal analysis in a sample of 46 right-handed adults. Elongation is the main factor involved in Lower Palaeolithic shape variation, followed by the position of the maximum thickness. Attention and manipulation time are mainly influenced by tool size, while arousal mostly correlates with tool weight. Electrodermal activity is apparently not influenced by the overall tool shape. Tool size, weight, and base morphology are the variables that mainly trigger an electrodermal reaction. Electrophysiological reaction is more sensitive to specific physical features of the tool than to its general outline. These features are not particularly different in worked pebbles and handaxes in terms of grasping, but underwent remarkable changes in other technological traditions. That changes associated with behavioral performances can be employed in cognitive archaeology to investigate the relationships between tool sensing and tool use.

Threat Conditioning and Trait-Based Vulnerability to Personality Disorder.

Some personality disorders (PDs) are accompanied by heightened threat sensitivity to benign events, whereas others are associated with minimal reactivity to danger or punishment. Such aberrant patterns of defensive responding may be due to abnormal threat learning processes, analogous to those observed in other fear- and fearlessness-based disorders. We investigated threat learning deficits with a Pavlovian differential conditioning procedure in an undergraduate sample (n = 117) overselected for negative affectivity. Contrary to predictions, maladaptive personality traits, as assessed via the Personality Inventory for DSM-5, were largely unrelated to defensive responding (i.e., subjective and electrodermal reactions to danger and safety cues) during threat conditioning. We discuss the possible boundary conditions of threat learning abnormalities in PD and suggest research designs that could more effectively reveal such deficits, if they exist.

Ličnost i reakcija na iznenadni događaj

Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio ispitati interindividualne razlike u elektrodermalnim reakcijama na iznenadni podražaj. Za ispitivanje toga cilja korištene su različite metode procjene elektrodermalne reakcije. Procjena reakcije kao jednostavna razlika prosječne elektrodermalne razine prije i poslije podražaja uspoređena je s pristupima koji modeliraju krivulju elektrodermalne reakcije kroz vrijeme. Ispitana je povezanost takve reakcije, modelirane na različite načine, s upitničkim mjerama osobina ličnosti. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 97 studenata u dobi od 18 do 28 godina, većinom ženskoga spola (60 %). Svaki je ispitanik ispunio kratku mjeru neuroticizma i ekstraverzije iz Petofaktorskoga inventara ličnosti (BFI; John i sur., 1991, 2008) te je sudjelovao u jednome laboratorijskome mjerenju elektrodermalne reakcije na iznenadni događaj u trajanju od 8 minuta. Elektrodermalna aktivnost modelirala se na tri načina: 1) kao razlika u reakcijama prije i poslije podražaja; 2) uključujući i linearne efekte vremena; 3) uključujući i kvadratne efekte vremena. Ishodi takvoga modeliranja korelirani su s upitničkim mjerama neuroticizma i ekstraverzije. Rezultati su pokazali da uzimajući u obzir efekte protoka vremena sama procjena krivulje elektrodermalne aktivnosti značajno bolje pristaje stvarnim izmjerenim podacima. Isto tako, procjene elektrodermalne reakcije koje uzimaju u obzir efekte protoka vremena rezultiraju višim prosječnim razinama i većim interindividualnim varijabilitetom. Tako modelirana elektrodermalna reakcija (linearno i kvadratno) pokazuje nešto blago više i značajne pozitivne korelacije s neuroticizmom, iako su razlike između različitih načina modeliranja relativno male. Dobiveni rezultati podupiru ideju o većoj pobudljivosti vezanoj uz crtu neuroticizma. Iako su korelacije iznimno male, ne odstupaju od onih dobivenih u drugim istraživanjima, pogotovo jer je riječ o jednome mjerenju (Stemmler i Wacker, 2010). S obzirom na intenzitet reakcije, moguće je da pobudljivost vezana uz neuroticizam i nije specifično vezana za valenciju podražaja koji tu reakciju pobuđuje. Rezultati također pokazuju da se i na malome uzorku i korištenjem samo jednoga mjerenja, uz adekvatno modeliranje elektrodermalne aktivnosti, može detektirati povezanosti s osobinama ličnosti.

Hand morphometrics, electrodermal activity, and stone tools haptic perception.

Tool use requires integration among sensorial, biomechanical, and cognitive factors. Taking into account the importance of tool use in human evolution, changes associated with the genus Homo are to be expected in all these three aspects. Haptics is based on both tactile and proprioceptive feedbacks, and it is associated with emotional reactions. Previous analyses have suggested a difference between males and females, and during haptic exploration of different typologies of stone tools. Here, we analyze the correlation between electrodermal reactions during stone tool handling and hand morphology to provide evidence of possible allometric factors shared by males and females. Electrodermal analysis was used to investigate some specific parameters involved in these reactions, such as changes in the level of attention and arousal. We analyzed the responses of 46 right-handed adults to 20 distinct stone tools while blindfolded. Females have smaller hands and a wider range of electrodermal reactions. Within males and females, hand diameters and general hand size do not correlate with the degree of electrodermal level and response. Sex differences in electrodemal reaction during stone tool handling are apparently not due to the effect of hand size or proportions. Differences between males and females are better interpreted as real sex differences, either due to a biological or cultural influences. Hand size does not influence the degree of arousal or attention during tool exploration, suggesting that other factors trigger individual reactions. These results add to a general cognitive approach on hand-tool evolution and tool sensing.

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<p>The article describes an experiment which used a new methodological approach to the study of covert recognition of faces by means of registration electro-dermal activity under short-term exposure of familiar and unfamiliar faces and the backward facelike masking stimulus. In contrast to previous studies the control of stimulus awareness allows us to evaluate not just the correct recognitions, but false alarms too. We used as the familiar faces not faces of the well-known persons, but faces of persons from the inner circle of subjects, including the subject’s own face. We confirmed the hypothesis that the characteristics of the electro-dermal reactions in response to familiar and unfamiliar faces will not be different in subjects with a high level of false alarms. However, for the group of subjects with practically zero false alarm rate and zero discriminability of familiar and unfamiliar faces an analysis of electro-dermal reactions have been mixed. On the one hand, as analysis on a group level showed, nor electrocutaneous reactions frequency, nor their amplitudes were not significantly different for the familiar and unfamiliar faces. On the other hand, it is clearly that these individual median and mean values of the amplitudes of subject's reactions are in average more than 2 times stronger when viewed familiar faces than viewed unfamiliar ones. These results leave a good chance to prove the effect of covert identification of faces in further experimentation with other groups of subjects</p>

Atypical sympathetic arousal in children with autism spectrum disorder and its association with anxiety symptomatology.

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been associated with autonomic atypicalities, although the nature of these differences remains largely unknown. Moreover, existing literature suggests large variability in autonomic function in ASD, motivating the need to examine the existence of subgroups that exhibit more homogeneous autonomic features.MethodsElectrodermal activity (EDA), a non-invasive physiological indicator of autonomic activity, was measured in typically developing children (n = 33) and those with ASD (n = 38) as participants performed tasks that elicit anxiety, attention, response inhibition, and social cognition processes. The ASD group was divided into low- (n = 18) and high-anxiety (n = 20) participants, and the groups were compared to mean EDA level and electrodermal reactions frequency (EDR).ResultsThe ASD group had a significantly blunted mean EDA response to the anxiety tasks (p < 0.004). The EDR response to all tasks, except response inhibition, was also blunted in the ASD group (p < 0.04). For this group, EDR frequency during the anxiety and social cognition tasks was negatively correlated with behavioral scores in the domains that were probed by each task (p < 0.002). The high-anxiety ASD group showed significantly decreased mean EDA compared to both the low-anxiety ASD group (p = 0.02) and the typically developing control group (p = 0.04). The high-anxiety ASD group also had significantly more severe symptoms than the low-anxiety ASD group on domains related to anxiety, attention, rule breaking, aggression, obsessions and compulsions, and depression.ConclusionsOur results suggest atypical autonomic function in children with ASD, specifically with respect to sympathetic activity. Moreover, anxiety symptomatology defined subgroups with distinct physiological and behavioral profiles. Overall, the results add to the body of literature supporting autonomic dysfunction in ASD and highlight the role of anxiety and autonomic features in explaining the variability in the autism spectrum.

No Motion without Emotion: Getting Started with Hard Facts on a Soft Topic

Abstract The power of emotions is evident in almost all areas of marketing and consumer behavior. Consumers often strive for "affect optimization": At the end of the day, they want their emotional balance to be positive. That means products, advertisements and other people - anything that can make us happy - all have a high potential for success. Hundreds of empirical studies demonstrate the importance of emotions in marketing and consumer behavior. But emotions are very diverse and can be researched from different perspectives. Methods for measuring emotions are as diverse as the various theoretical approaches. They range from verbal self-evaluation and picture-based scales to neuroscientific measures like heart rate, electrodermal reactions or regional brain response. Other popular approaches include observational methods that attempt to capture emotional facial expressions. Which method fits best needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Correlations between Individual Features of Electrodermal Response during Viewing of the Same Videos

In the past few years, much attention has been given to the development of neurophysiological methods of analyzing social interactions between subjects in response to natural stimuli presented in videos. This article describes a methodological approach for assessing similarities, and differences in how videos are perceived by different subjects based on their phasic electrodermal response (EDR). Experiments with viewing of videos revealed statistically significant correlations of electrodermal reactions in different subjects that made it possible to distinguish groups with similar or differing types of perception of the films. The results obtained demonstrate to our mind the possibility of using EDR as a simple method for quantifying autonomous nervous activity to assess the emotional, and activation components of interpersonal interaction.

Impact of Biofeedback on Self-efficacy and Stress Reduction in Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Biofeedback application is an evidence-based technique to induce relaxation. A primary mechanism of action is the improvement of self-efficacy, which is needed to facilitate the translation of health behavioral intentions into action. Obesity is often associated with low self-efficacy and dysfunctional eating patterns, including comfort eating as an inexpedient relaxation technique. This is the first study investigating the effects of biofeedback on self-efficacy and relaxation in obesity. In the present experiment, 31 women, mean body mass index 35.5 kg/m², were randomized to a food-specific biofeedback paradigm, a non-specific relaxation biofeedback paradigm, or a waiting list control. Eight sessions of biofeedback of the electrodermal activity were performed while presenting either a challenging food stimulus or a non-specific landscape stimulus. Self-efficacy, stress, ability to relax, eating behavior, and electrodermal activity were assessed before, directly after, and 3 months after the intervention. The food-specific biofeedback predominantly showed effects on food-related self-efficacy and perceived stress. The non-specific relaxation biofeedback showed effects on the ability to relax. Self-reported improvements were confirmed by corresponding decrease in the electrodermal reaction to food stimuli. Biofeedback treatment is effective in improving self-efficacy in individuals with obesity and might therefore be a valuable additional intervention in obesity treatment.

Cue reactivity towards shopping cues in female participants.

Background and aims It is currently under debate whether pathological buying can be considered as a behavioural addiction. Addictions have often been investigated with cue-reactivity paradigms to assess subjective, physiological and neural craving reactions. The current study aims at testing whether cue reactivity towards shopping cues is related to pathological buying tendencies. Methods A sample of 66 non-clinical female participants rated shopping related pictures concerning valence, arousal, and subjective craving. In a subgroup of 26 participants, electrodermal reactions towards those pictures were additionally assessed. Furthermore, all participants were screened concerning pathological buying tendencies and baseline craving for shopping. Results Results indicate a relationship between the subjective ratings of the shopping cues and pathological buying tendencies, even if baseline craving for shopping was controlled for. Electrodermal reactions were partly related to the subjective ratings of the cues. Conclusions Cue reactivity may be a potential correlate of pathological buying tendencies. Thus, pathological buying may be accompanied by craving reactions towards shopping cues. Results support the assumption that pathological buying can be considered as a behavioural addiction. From a methodological point of view, results support the view that the cue-reactivity paradigm is suited for the investigation of craving reactions in pathological buying and future studies should implement this paradigm in clinical samples.

Beyond behavioural observations: a deeper view through the sensory reactions of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

The present study was aimed at assessing the behavioural and physiological responsiveness of three children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities to a set of sensory stimuli. Eighteen items, 'believed' by clinicians to be appropriate for routine interventions, were presented to the participants and responsiveness was assessed in terms of: (i) consistent behavioural and electrodermal reactions and (ii) biphasic changes in heart rate. Results were twofold. First, all participants showed frequent consistent physiological reactions but rare consistent behavioural ones. Second, all participants showed biphasic changes in heart rate, pointing to the possibility of different appraisals (novelty and pleasantness) of most of the presented items. Data here presented may have implications for the development and the emotional well-being of individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities in that it suggests that reactions to, and potential appraisals of, sensory stimuli may occur despite the lack of consistent observable behaviours.

Comparison of blood volume pulse and skin conductance responses to mental and affective stimuli at different anatomical sites

Measurements of blood volume pulse (BVP) and skin conductance are commonly used as indications of psychological arousal in affective computing and human–machine interfaces. To date, palmar surfaces remain the primary site for these measurements. Placement of sensors on palmar surfaces, however, is undesirable when recordings are fraught with motion and pressure artifacts. These artifacts are frequent when the human participant has involuntary movements as in hyperkinetic cerebral palsy. This motivates the use of alternative measurement sites. The present study examined the correlation between measurements of blood volume pulse and skin conductance obtained from three different sites on the body (fingers, toes and ear for BVP; fingers, toes and arch of the foot for skin conductance) in response to cognitive and affective stimuli. The results of this pilot study indicated significant inter-site correlation among signal features derived from different sites, with the exception of BVP amplitude, the number of electrodermal reactions and the slope of the electrodermal activity response. We attribute these differences in part to inter-site discrepancies in local skin conditions, such as skin temperature. Despite these differences, significant changes from baseline were present in the responses to the cognitive and affective stimuli at non-palmar sites, suggesting that these sites may provide viable signal measurements for use in affective computing and human–machine interface applications.

Neuropsychiatric Complications of Efavirenz Therapy: Suggestions for a New Research Paradigm

Neuropsychiatric Complications of Efavirenz Therapy: Suggestions for a New Research Paradigm

Differential electrodermal and phasic heart rate responses to personally relevant information: Comparing sleep and wakefulness

This study examined autonomic physiological responses to personally relevant information presented during sleep and wakefulness. Heart rate and electrodermal reactions to subjects’ own first name and other first names were measured during sleep stage 2, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and wakefulness. Across all conditions, larger skin conductance responses were elicited by subjects’ own first name. During REM sleep, personally relevant information led to larger heart rate acceleration, whereas an enhanced deceleration was examined during wakefulness. These findings suggest that auditory information is processed on a semantic level even during sleep. However, personally relevant information elicits a co-activation of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system during the wake state whereas only the former system is activated during REM sleep. The response pattern in the wake state reflects a mechanism focusing attention to a specific stimulus source — termed the orienting response. In contrast, the physiological responses during sleep seem to be part of a different mechanism aiming to wake the subject after crucial information has been detected in the environment.

Salience of guilty knowledge test items affects accuracy in realistic mock crimes

A Guilty Knowledge Test measuring electrodermal reactions was carried out in order to investigate the quality of different questions and the validity of the test in a situation that resembled a true crime. Fifty participants were randomly assigned to commit one of two realistic mock crimes, and were later tested with GKTs concerning both the crime they had enacted and the one they had no knowledge of. Different scoring systems (SCRs and peak amplitudes as well as raw and standardised scores) were employed and compared when analyzing the results. Although there were some false positives, the test was able to differentiate between the groups of guilty and innocent participants. With the best scoring systems, the test was able to classify up to 84% of the innocent and up to 76% of the guilty correctly according to a logistic regression analysis. ROC areas reflecting these same results reached values above .80. Questions on matters that demanded the participants' attention and were easier to remember had better discriminative power. With nearly all scoring methods, there was a significant interaction between the salience of the relevant items and the guilt of the participants. Participants reacted more strongly to salient relevant items when they were guilty, while no different reactions were observed for the non-salient items between guilty and innocent participants. It is suggested that, although the Guilty Knowledge Test appears to be a valid measure of guilty knowledge even in crimes that are close to real crimes, the principles on which guilty knowledge test questions are constructed should be more clearly specified.

Neural Correlate of Spatial Presence in an Arousing and Noninteractive Virtual Reality: An EEG and Psychophysiology Study

Using electroencephalography (EEG), psychophysiology, and psychometric measures, this is the first study which investigated the neurophysiological underpinnings of spatial presence. Spatial presence is considered a sense of being physically situated within a spatial environment portrayed by a medium (e.g., television, virtual reality). Twelve healthy children and 11 healthy adolescents were watching different virtual roller coaster scenarios. During a control session, the roller coaster cab drove through a horizontal roundabout track. The following realistic roller coaster rides consisted of spectacular ups, downs, and loops. Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) and event-related desynchronization (ERD) were used to analyze the EEG data. As expected, we found that, compared to the control condition, experiencing a virtual roller coaster ride evoked in both groups strong SP experiences, increased electrodermal reactions, and activations in parietal brain areas known to be involved in spatial navigation. In addition, brain areas that receive homeostatic afferents from somatic and visceral sensations of the body were strongly activated. Most interesting, children (as compared to adolescents) reported higher spatial presence experiences and demonstrated a different frontal activation pattern. While adolescents showed increased activation in prefrontal areas known to be involved in the control of executive functions, children demonstrated a decreased activity in these brain regions. Interestingly, recent neuroanatomical and neurophysiological studies have shown that the frontal brain continues to develop to adult status well into adolescence. Thus, the result of our study implies that the increased spatial presence experience in children may result from the not fully developed control functions of the frontal cortex.

Arousal and consumer in-store behavior

From a psychophysiological point of view, arousal is a fundamental feature of behavior. As reported in different empirical studies based on insights from theories of consumer behavior, store atmosphere should evoke phasic arousal reactions to attract consumers. Most of these empirical investigations used verbal scales to measure consumers’ perceived phasic arousal at the point-of-sale (POS). However, the validity of verbal arousal measurement is questioned; self-reporting methods only allow a time-lagged measurement. Furthermore, the selection of inappropriate items to represent perceived arousal is criticized, and verbal reports require some form of cognitive evaluation of perceived arousal by the individual, who might (in a non-measurement condition) not even be aware of the arousal. By contrast, phasic electrodermal reaction (EDR) has proven to be the most appropriate and valid indicator for measuring arousal [W. Boucsein, Physiologische Grundlagen und Meßmethoden der dermalen Aktivität. In: F. Rösler (Ed.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie, Bereich Psychophysiologie, Band 1: Grundlagen and Methoden der Psychophysiologie, Kapitel, Vol. 7, Hogrefe, Göttingen, 2001, pp. 551–623] that could be relevant to behavior. EDR can be recorded simultaneously to the perception of stimuli. Furthermore, telemetric online device can be used, which enables physiological arousal measurement while participants can move freely through the store and perform the assigned task in the experiments. The present paper delivers insights on arousal theory and results from empirical studies using EDR to measure arousal at the POS.

Approche neurobiologique des traits tempéramentaux associés aux troubles de personnalité

Recent publications in the field of neurobiology related to personality disorders allow some consideration on the bidirectional relationship between genetically determined temperamental traits and environment, interactions observed in the normal development of personality during childhood and adolescence or on the contrary in the building of a disordered personality revealed at adulthood. Based on the review of studies about development of personality disorders in children, adolescents and adults, this article puts forward the interactive quality of relations between genetic background and environmental factors and proposes hypotheses concerning the role of temperament in the development of personality. Correlations between genes and environment (rGE) and interactions gene-environment (GxE) are examined. Bidirectional feedback between temperament and environment where individual temperamental characteristics determine environment selection or adjustment and not the opposite is an example of an interaction of evocative type. However, actual research designs face difficulties in the establishment of a causal link due to the multitude and complexity of involved factors linking personality traits with temperamental genetic markers. This might explain the emergence of an endophenotype concept as it has been used with autism. An endophenotype consists in a mesurable cognitive, neurophysiological or neurochemical variable expressing the genetic defect present before the onset of the illness. Some studies put forward possible endophenotypes for borderline, antisocial and schizotypal personality disorders. Longitudinal research has shown the predictive quality of externalized conduct disorders of childhood leading to antisocial and to a lesser extent borderline personality disorders in adulthood. Impulsivity and affective lability might be based on minor neurocognitive abnormalities, subclinical attention deficits and/or marked neuropsychological dimensions such as strong extraversion. Suboptimal serotoninergic regulation has been established in destructive impulsivity and suicidability. Abnormalities in the dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems might also be implicated but it remains unclear to what extent repeated trauma and abuse during childhood might modify the hypothalamic-pituitary-corticotropic axis in response to chronic stress and transform permanently the modulation of physiological and psychological reactions of these children to their perturbed environment. Researches on conduct disorders have also demonstrated the evocative interaction of a particular temperament with the environment responding to marked novelty seeking behaviour, hyperactivity, impulsivity and lack of proper physiological reaction to extreme stimuli. Lack of behaviour inhibition found in antisocial individuals is attributed to noradrenergic and serotoninergic abnormalities and neurocognitive deficits. The dimensional continuity of schizotypal personality to schizophrenia is well established and electrophysiological markers such as abnormal eye tracking movements, P300 evoked potentials, prolonged electrodermal reactions with cognitive disorganization and deficits in inhibition of attention to usual stimuli might be the future endophenotypical markers to schizophrenia susceptibility. Further studies on temperamental traits might lead to the identification of genetic markers as precursors to personality disorders.

A stimulation method using odors suitable for PET and fMRI studies with recording of physiological and behavioral signals

A design for a semi-automatic olfactometric system is described for PET and fMRI experiments. The olfactometer presents several advantages because it enables the use of an ‘infinite’ number of odorants and the synchronization of stimuli with breathing. These advantages mean that the subject is recorded while breathing normally during olfactory judgment tasks. In addition, the design includes a system for recording the behavioral (rating scale) and physiological (breathing, electrodermal reaction (ED), plethysmography (PL)) signals given by the subject. Both systems present the advantage of being compatible with fMRI magnetic fields since no ferrous material is used in the Faraday cage and signals are transmitted via an optical transmission interface to an acquisition system.

Respiration-related artifacts in EDA recordings: introducing a standardized method to overcome multiple interpretations.

When electrodermal activity (EDA) recordings are controlled for artifacts, i.e., electrodermal reactions [EDRs] elicited by breathing irregularities, several problems arise. For example, respiration is difficult to evaluate because there are no clear-cut criteria for its values, e.g., wave form, depth. Furthermore, respiration and EDA are rather complexly intertwined, and there is no established or standardized method for evaluation. Especially when subjects are not stimulated, i.e., when nonspecific EDRs are taken, EDR recordings elicited by irregular breathing may overestimate the subject's arousal and bias any given research question. Moreover, incidences of concurrent consecutive EDRs and changes in respiratory activity may encourage multicausal interpretation due to both signals' having a common central causation. To circumvent such problems, we developed a method which provides rule-based guidelines to identify potential artifacts. Two experiments (N = 14 and N = 12) were conducted to test the accuracy of the judgments of three independent raters. The reliability coefficients for the number of electrodermal reactions and the sum of their amplitudes yielded satisfactory coefficients of convergence for each individual experiment (.87 and .82 in Exp. 1 vs .94 and .95 in Exp. 2) as well as for the two experiments combined (.92 and .91).