Galvanic Skin Research Articles

Experience and performance type modify anticipatory stress in musicians

We examined the anticipatory stress response in musicians before a day of rehearsal and a concert and examined if experience levels modulated physiological and perception of stress responses. Twenty members of a professional orchestra had their heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and galvanic skin response/conductance (GSR) measured as well as self-assessment of their anxiety surrounding their performance. HR was significantly elevated prior to a concert (87 bpm) compared with a rehearsal (80 bpm), whereas no differences were observed for BP. GSR responses prior to a concert were significantly elevated in less experienced musicians compared with their more experienced peers and a significant inverse correlation was also found between years of experience and GSR responses. Similarly, musicians with greater experience reported on average less perceived somatic anxiety during the concert and a significant inverse correlation was found between years of experience and perceived somatic anxiety. These results suggest that the type of performance and the experience level of the musician modulates anticipatory stress responses. Further understanding of the role of anticipatory stress in musicians could have a number of practical benefits.

Understanding Learning Engagement with User-Centered Human-Computer Interaction in a Multimodal Online Learning Environment

Multimodal online learning environment improves learning experience through different modalities such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic interactions. Multimodal learning analytics (MMLA) with multiple biosensors provides a way to overcome the challenge of analyzing the multiple interaction types simultaneously. Galvanic skin response/electrodermal activity (GSR/EDA), eye tracking and facial expression were used to measure the learning interaction in a multimodal online learning environment. iMotions and R software were used to post-process and analyze the time-synchronized biosensor data. GSR/EDA, eye tracking and facial expression showed real-time cognitive, emotional, and visual learning engagement for each interaction type. There is a tremendous potential for using MMLA with multiple biosensors to understand learning engagement in a multimodal online learning environment was shown in this study.

Use of the Bogus Pipeline Increases Sexual Concordance in Women But Not Men.

Sexual concordance-the agreement between physiological (genital) and psychological (emotional) sexual arousal-is, on average, substantially lower in women than men. Following social role theory, the gender difference in sexual concordance may manifest because women and men are responding in a way that accommodates gender norms. We examined genital and self-reported sexual arousal in 47 women and 50 men using a condition known to discourage conformity to gender norms (i.e., a bogus pipeline paradigm). Participants reported their feelings of sexual arousal during a sexually explicit film, while their genital arousal (penile circumference, vaginal vasocongestion), heart rate (HR), and galvanic skin (GS) responses were recorded. Half of the participants were instructed that their self-reported sexual arousal was being monitored for veracity using their HR and GS responses (bogus pipeline condition; BPC); the remaining participants were told that these responses were recorded for a comprehensive record of sexual response (typical testing condition; TTC). Using multi-level modeling, we found that only women's sexual concordance was affected by testing condition; women in the BPC exhibited significantly higher sexual concordance than those in the TTC. Thus, we provide the first evidence that the gender difference in sexual concordance may at least partially result from social factors.

PhysioLab - a multivariate physiological computing toolbox for ECG, EMG and EDA signals: a case of study of cardiorespiratory fitness assessment in the elderly population

The exponential increase of wearable health-tracking technologies offers new possibilities but also poses new challenges in signal processing to enable fitness monitoring through multimodal physiological recordings. Although there are several software tools used for post-processing in physiological computing applications, limitations in the analysis, incorporating signals from multiple sources, integrating contextual information and providing information visualization tools prevent a widespread use of this technology. To address these issues, we introduce PhysioLab, a multimodal processing Matlab tool for the data analysis of Electromyography (EMG), Electrocardiography (ECG) and Electrodermal Activity (EDA). The software is intended to facilitate the processing and comprehension of multimodal physiological data with the aim of assessing fitness in several domains. A unique feature of PhysioLab is that is informed by normative data grouped by age and sex, allowing contextualization of data based on users’ demographics. Besides signal processing, PhysioLab includes a novel approach to multivariable data visualization with the aim of simplifying interpretation by non-experts users. The system computes a set of ECG features based on heart rate variability analysis, EMG parameters to quantify force and fatigue levels, and galvanic skin level/responses from EDA signals. Furthermore, PhysioLab provides compatibility with data from multiple low-cost wearable sensors. We conducted an experiment with 17 community-dwelling older adults (64.5 ± 6.4) to assess the feasibility of the tool in characterizing cardiorespiratory profiles during physical activity. Correlation analyses and regression models showed significant interactions between physiology and fitness evaluations. Our results suggest novel ways that physiological parameters could be effectively used to complement traditional fitness assessment.

The development of a brief 5-minute mindful breathing therapy for the reduction of distress in palliative cancer patients

IntroductionAlthough psychological distress is highly prevalent, palliative cancer patients are mostly too lethargic to undergo many sessions of the conventional psychotherapy.ObjectivesThe study aims to develop a brief, quick and easy to administer psychological intervention for rapid reduction of distress in palliative care patients.MethodsIn phase I, an expert panel of multidisciplinary team was formed. The theory of mindfulness-based intervention was simplified into a 5-minute mindful breathing technique that can be learnt and practiced by palliative care patients.In phase II, the efficacy of 5-minute mindful breathing was investigated in a pilot test that comprised of nine palliative cancer patients and eleven care takers.In Phase III, the efficacy of 5-minute mindful breathing was further examined in a non-blinded, randomized controlled trial (RCT) that included 60 cancer patients under palliative care. Apart from perceived distress, physiological measures were assessed.ResultsThe effect of 5-minute mindful breathing in rapidly reducing distress among palliative care patients was confirmed in both the pilot test (Tan et al., 2015) and RCT (Ng et al., 2016). The finding was further supported by the significant physiological changes associated with distress reduction such as decreased breathing rate, blood pressure, pulse rate, galvanic skin and increased skin surface temperature (Ng et al., 2016) with the 5-minute mindful breathing.ConclusionThe 5-minute mindful breathing is a quick and easy to administer intervention that is useful for reducing acute suffering or distress in palliative care patients.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

WS05.3 Sleep architecture in CF patients as assessed by the Body Media's SenseWear® Armband (SWA)

Background Many CF patients complain of altered sleep quality and, in some of them, polysomnography shows sleep disorders with frequent awakenings, night cough, lower sleep efficiency (SE) and less REM sleep. The SWA, which measures body movement, surface body temperature, galvanic and heat flux skin response, proposes a non-invasive and simple way to measure sleep stages at home. Objectives Our study 1.examined the validity of SWA to detect sleep stages in normal controls compared to published normative values (Ohayon et al, Sleep 2004) and 2.compared SWA-derived sleep architecture between normal controls and stable CF patients. Methods 15 CF adults (31.6±12.3 yrs; FEV 1 65.5±24.4% pred) and 19 CF children (10.5±3.4 yrs; FEV 1 83±13.4%) were compared with 13 healthy adults (32.3±11.5 yrs) and 11 healthy children (10±1.9 yrs). CF patients and healthy subjects wore the SWA for an average of 5 and 2 nights, respectively. Light sleep (LS, stages 1 and 2), deep sleep (DS, stages 3 and 4); REM stage and SE were evaluated as the % of total sleep time. Results In healthy subjects, SWA showed SE and DS measures consistent with published normative values whereas LS and REM seemed to be over- and underestimated, respectively. In CF adults, but not in CF children, SE was lower when compared to normal controls (adults: 77.3±8.5% vs 86.3±4.7%; p=0.003; children: 81.0.3±6.8% vs 84.4±5.0%; p=0.154). None of the sleep stages differed between patients and controls, except for REM sleep which was lower in CF children. Conclusion SWA is a simple and promising method to detect sleep architecture disorders in CF patients, notably sleep efficiency.

Pleasant music improves visual attention in patients with unilateral neglect after stroke

Objective: To investigate whether listening to pleasant music improves visual attention to and awareness of contralesional stimuli in patients with unilateral neglect after stroke.Methods: A within-subject design was used with 19 participants with unilateral neglect following a right hemisphere stroke. Participants were tested in three conditions (pleasant music, unpleasant music and white noise) within 1 week. All musical pieces were chosen by the participants. In each condition, participants were asked to complete three sub-tests of the Behavioural Inattention Test (the Star Cancellation Test, the Line Bisection Test and the Picture Scanning test) and a visual exploration task with everyday scenes. Eye movements in the visual exploration task were recorded simultaneously. Mood and arousal induced by different auditory stimuli were assessed using visual analogue scales, heart rate and galvanic skin response.Results: Compared with unpleasant music and white noise, participants rated their moods as more positive and arousal as higher with pleasant music, but also showed significant improvement on all tasks and eye movement data, except the Line Bisection Test.Conclusion: The findings suggest that pleasant music can improve visual attention in patients with unilateral neglect after stroke. Additional research using randomized controlled trials is required to validate these findings.

Electrodermal Lability and Individual Differences in Simultaneous Monitoring and Tracking

Electrodermal (galvanic skin) responses conveniently index sympathetic arousal. Indivduals with high levels of resting electrodermal activity are designated “labiles,” while those with low levels, “stabiles.” Labiles appear resistant to performance decrement over time in vigilance tasks. Thus, increased electrodermal responsivity may represent enhanced attentional capacity during such tasks. The responses of 10 labiles and 10 stabiles were collected during a simple reaction time task and under single and dual task monitoring and tracking conditions. Subjects monitored an automatic tracking task for dynamic system failures. Tracking was the Critical Task with a subcritical level of instability. The reaction time data paralleled the previously reported findings of inferior performance for stabiles. The data for complex single and dual task conditions did not reveal a similar trend. Generally, stabiles performed better. The pattern of these results suggests that the proposed selective enhancement associated with electrodermal lability is only adaptive for tasks that require or profit from focused attention.

New Advances in Objective Audiometry

THE NEED for objective procedures to test auditory function in infants, children, and adults has long been recognized. The search for objective measures to augment and replace standard audiological methods requiring subjective responses has led to the development and use of electrodermal, electroencephalic (cortex-evoked response), electrocochleographic, and impedance audiometry. 1-4 The electrodermal or galvanic skin (GSR) audiometric technique has been generally abandoned because of the ... unspecificity of the stimulus and the resulting inaccuracy of the response 5 and the hazards of passing electrical currents through the body. 1 Current techniques utilizing the other three methods provide either limited information or information that is often difficult to interpret. Recently, new objective audiometric procedures have been introduced. One procedure is a slight modification of the electroencephalic or cortex-evoked method. Instead of measuring the long-latency potentials (generally more than 50 msec after stimulus onset) recorded from cortical areas, measurements are taken

Action of hydrogenated ergot alkaloids upon transmission to sweat glands in the cat.

Most of the theoretical, hypothetical, and controversial aspects of the action of adrenergic blocking agents upon transmission to sweat glands and, to some extent, elsewhere in the cat have been reported previously. 2 Thus the present account of action by Hydergine? (an equal admixture of dihydroergocristine, dihydroergocornine, and dihydroergokryptine, Sandoz) and by dihydroergotamine is relieved of much of the burden of discussion. Evidence exists (based upon observed actions of acetylcholine, adrenaline, noradrenaline, atropine, phenoxybenzamine, bretylium, and guanethidine) to the effect that transmission from sudomotor nerve to sweat gland cells (in the cat at least) may be a dual, sequential (cholinergic-adrenergic in that order) affair. Disagreement arises by reason of questions concerning the specificity of alpha-adrenergic blocking agents, dosage, conflicting evidence concerning action or inaction of these agents at given sites (specifically at the sudomotor junction), infeasibility, for one reason or another, of experimental approach to obtain some desirable collateral evidence, and, unfortunately, preconception. The preparations were cats anesthetized by the use of intraperitoneal chloralose (40 mg/kg) and urethane (0.8 mg/kg) mixture. Zinc-zinc sulfate electrodes were placed one upon the surface of the central footpad, the other subcutaneously at a short distance from the first. The foot, so fitted with electrodes, was bound with vinyl plastic tape to hold the electrodes in place and to provide a barrier to evaporative drying of the electrode paste. A Sanborn recorder and d-c amplifiers were employed to display sweat gland action potential (galvanic skin) responses to sudomotor stimulation; this last was achieved through electrodes applied to the proximally severed, isolated, plantar nerves submerged in a mineral oil bath. Hydergine? and dihydroergotamine were injected slowly, intravenously, in doses usually of I mg/kg. But, to see what would happen, doses occasionally were increased to as much as 2.5 mg/kg. However, the results presented herein all pertain to experiments utilizing the minimal dose. Figure 1 illustrates the result of an experiment in which Hydergine? (1 mg/kg) was injected intravenously after response to stimulation had become stable and during the period indicated by the bar beneath the uppermost record. The three rows of recordings are continuous but for two responses lost, in preparing the figure, between the top and middle rows and again between the middle and bottom rows. A time bar between the middle and bottom rows of responses indicates five minutes. Action upon sudomotor transmission by dihydroergotamine is similar to that by Hydergine?. Separate consideration of action by the two agents, therefore, is not warranted, nor is what would virtually amount to duplication of illustration were the action by dihydroergotamine upon transmission to be exemplified. 1.15

AN EVALUATION OF OBJECTIVE AUDIOMETRY WITH THE USE OF GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE BY JET-AIR CONDITIONING

A new conditioning technique was presented here for the achievement of objective audiometry using galvanic skin response.Galvanic skin response(GSR) audiometry with eletcric shock stimuli is usually accompanied by uncomfortable pain or anxiety of the patient, and may be an unpleasant experience for the child.As practical solution of such problemes, jet-air conditioning was devised. And it was studied experimentally and clinically. The conditioning schedule was set up as 60% partial reinforcement, i, e., the patient was irregu- lary given fifteen tone stimuli between 15 and 45 seconds, of which nine were combined stimuli of tone and jet-air.The jet-air pressure was about 30mmHg and was puffed out to the external canthus of the patient from a distance of about 20 centimeters, and was presented immediately after the, presentation of pure tone of 1, 000cps for 2 to 3 seconds at a level of 40db above the presupposed threshold. Some basic experiments and investigations in jet-air conditioning were carried out in 110 subjects from 4 to 43 years of age.And it was promised that jet-air conditioning might be succeeded above at the rate of 80% of subjects. Clinical application was carried out in 57 children from 2 to 12 years of age and in 20 adults. The threshold determination was performed at each frequency of 1, 000, 2000, 4, 000 and 500cps after conditioning by the reinforcement schedule.We could succeed to get the thresholds in 52 cases out of 57 children(91.2%) and 16 cases out of 20 adults(80.0%). Comparison of thresholds measured by using this method with those measured by subjective audiometry was studied.In children, both thresholds agreed at a level of ± 10db in each frequency as follows:97.3%in 1, 000cps, 91.9% in 2, 000cps, 85.9% in 4, 000cps and 89.5% in 500cps;and equally in adults. GSR audiometry by means of jet-air conditio- ning was proved one of the useful and excellent objective audiometries, particularly for children.

Brain-stem inhibition of electrodermal (galvanic skin) activity

Spontaneous and evoked electrodermal potentials were recorded from the footpads of cats subjected to vagotomy, midmesencephalic decerebration, and serial transections of the central neuraxis from the intercollicular level to the uppermost cervical spinal segments. Eight animals were decerebellated while in the midmesencephalic condition. Electrodermal activity was profoundly depressed by midmesencephalic decerebration. Subsequent decerebellation and transections through the caudal half of the mesencephalon and the rostral third of the pons produced little alteration. However, serial transections through the middle and caudal thirds of the pons progressively enhanced electrodermal activity. Further augmentation was obtained following transection of the spinal cord. These data indicate that the brain stem contains an extensive electrodermal inhibitory system consisting of pontile and medullary components. Maximal suppression of electrodermal activity in the midmesencephalic animal requires the integrity of both components of this system. Distinguishing characteristics between the brain-stem electrodermal inhibitory system and the somatic reticular inhibitory system are discussed.

GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE IN THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF DEAFNESS

PRESENT clinical methods used in the differential diagnosis of organic from psychogenic deafness have proved adequate in the majority of cases. However, equivocal and unreliable responses are met with, particularly in psychotic or retarded patients or those with a compensation fixation. Methods of testing suspect cases of deafness are included in all standard textbooks. Priest 1 has outlined a satisfactory procedure for the uniform testing of patients with unilateral deafness. He has advocated the use of shadow curve audiograms, the Well's modification of the Stenger test, the Lombard reading test, the Marx test and several auxiliary aids. The need for clearcut differentiation in the diagnosis and separation of organic from psychogenic deafness is apparent. Since positive results are not always possible with present established tests, the following objective method of testing was utilized. This method is applicable only to those professing or manifesting total unilateral or binaural deafness. The galvanic skin