Measured Skin Conductance Responses Research Articles

An MEG compatible system for measuring skin conductance responses

We present the design of a low-cost system for recording galvanic skin conductance responses (SCRs) from humans in a magnetically shielded room (MSR) simultaneously to magnetoencephalography (MEG). Such a system was so far not available to the MEG community. Its availability is of utmost importance for neuroscience, since it will allow the concurrent assessment of the autonomic and central nervous system activity. The overall system design optimizes high signal to noise ratio (SNR) of SCRs and achieves minimal distortion of the MEG signal. Its development was based on a fiber-optic transformer, with voltage to optical transduction inside the MSR and demodulation outside the MSR. The system was calibrated and tested inside the MEG environment by using a 151-channel CTF whole head system (VSM MedTech Ltd.). MEG measurements were recorded simultaneously to SCRs from five healthy participants to test whether the developed system does not generate artifacts in the MEG data. Two measurements were performed for each participant; one without the system in the MSR, and one with the system in the MSR, connected to the participant and in operation. The data were analyzed using the time and frequency domains in separate statistical analysis. No significant differences were observed between the two sessions for any statistic index. Our results show that the system allows high quality simultaneous recordings of SCRs and MEG signals in the MSR, and can therefore be used as routine addendum to neuroscience experiments.

Correlations between psychological tests and physiological responses during fear conditioning and renewal

BackgroundAnxiety disorders are characterized by specific emotions, thoughts and physiological responses. Little is known, however, about the relationship between psychological/personality indices of anxiety responses to fear stimuli.MethodsWe studied this relationship in healthy subjects by comparing scores on psychological and personality questionnaires with results of an experimental fear conditioning paradigm using a visual conditioned stimulus (CS). We measured skin conductance response (SCR) during habituation, conditioning, and extinction; subsequently testing for recall and renewal of fear 24 hours later.ResultsWe found that multiple regression models explained 45% of the variance during conditioning to the CS+, and 24% of the variance during renewal of fear to the CS+. Factors that explained conditioning included lower levels of conscientiousness, increased baseline reactivity (SCL), and response to the shock (UCR). Low levels of extraversion correlated with greater renewal. No model could be found to explain extinction learning or extinction recall to the CS+.ConclusionsThe lack of correlation of fear extinction with personality and neuropsychological indices suggests that extinction may be less determined by trait variables and cognitive state, and may depend more on the subject’s current emotional state. The negative correlation between fear renewal and extraversion suggests that this personality characteristic may protect against post-treatment relapse of symptoms of anxiety disorders.

Skin Conductance Response to the Pain of Others Predicts Later Costly Helping

People show autonomic responses when they empathize with the suffering of another person. However, little is known about how these autonomic changes are related to prosocial behavior. We measured skin conductance responses (SCRs) and affect ratings in participants while either receiving painful stimulation themselves, or observing pain being inflicted on another person. In a later session, they could prevent the infliction of pain in the other by choosing to endure pain themselves. Our results show that the strength of empathy-related vicarious skin conductance responses predicts later costly helping. Moreover, the higher the match between SCR magnitudes during the observation of pain in others and SCR magnitude during self pain, the more likely a person is to engage in costly helping. We conclude that prosocial motivation is fostered by the strength of the vicarious autonomic response as well as its match with first-hand autonomic experience.

Emotion response patterns to transient stimuli in migraineurs and non-migraineurs

Event Abstract Back to Event Emotion response patterns to transient stimuli in migraineurs and non-migraineurs Ana Pesquita1*, Ulysses Bernardet1, Aleksander Valjamae1, Joan Dura2, Patricia Pozo-Rosich2 and Paul J. Verschure1 1 Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain 2 Hospital Universitari Vall d Hebron, Spain Despite strong epidemiological evidence supporting a link between migraine and emotion, little is known about the specificity of emotional processing in migraine. Our psychophysiological study aimed at probing the responses of migraineurs to affective stimuli, and in particular, the dynamic pattern of affective modulation in response to shifts in emotional stimulation. Twenty-two healthy subjects and eighteen migraineurs-with-aura (MA), in inter-critical phase and with reported migraine frequency above 6 days per month, participated in the study. A set of pictures was selected from the International Affective Picture System to create five picture classes ranging from low, neutral to high on the valence and arousal dimensions. Pictures were arranged in two stages. In the first stage pictures were presented individually in order to establish the baseline response, and in the second stage picture transitions from one valence class to the opposite one were presented. Each picture was shown for 6 seconds with varying transition intervals. Affective responses were assessed by subjective ratings of valence and arousal and by measuring skin conductance responses. Results revealed that, compared to non-migraineurs, MA exhibited enhanced reactivity to unpleasant stimuli, non-habituation of affective responses to repeated exposure to unpleasant and even neutral stimuli, and high susceptibility to disrupt positive affective states in the presence of unpleasant stimuli. Our findings provide a fined-grain profile of migraineurs altered emotion responsiveness, giving a step towards understanding the role of emotion in migraine’s brain disorder and bringing forth insights for the development of emotion modulation strategies to reduce the impact of migraine in patients' lives. Funding: Supported by Fundació La Marató de TV3 071932 and an INOV-Art Scholarship to A.P. Keywords: emotion, Migraineurs Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Emotion, Motivation and the Social Brain Citation: Pesquita A, Bernardet U, Valjamae A, Dura J, Pozo-Rosich P and Verschure PJ (2011). Emotion response patterns to transient stimuli in migraineurs and non-migraineurs. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00493 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 22 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Ana Pesquita, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, anapesquita@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Ana Pesquita Ulysses Bernardet Aleksander Valjamae Joan Dura Patricia Pozo-Rosich Paul J Verschure Google Ana Pesquita Ulysses Bernardet Aleksander Valjamae Joan Dura Patricia Pozo-Rosich Paul J Verschure Google Scholar Ana Pesquita Ulysses Bernardet Aleksander Valjamae Joan Dura Patricia Pozo-Rosich Paul J Verschure PubMed Ana Pesquita Ulysses Bernardet Aleksander Valjamae Joan Dura Patricia Pozo-Rosich Paul J Verschure Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Depth Perception and Defensive System Activation in a 3-D Environment

To survive, animals must be able to react appropriately (in temporal and behavioral terms) when facing a threat. One of the essential parameters considered by the defensive system is the distance of the threat, the “defensive distance.” In this study, we investigate the visual depth cues that could be considered as an alarm cue for the activation of the defensive system. For this purpose, we performed an active-escape pain task in a virtual three-dimensional environment. In two experiments, we manipulated the nature and consistency of different depth cues: vergence, linear perspective, and angular size. By measuring skin conductance responses, we characterized the situations that activated the defensive system. We show that the angular size of the predator was sufficient information to trigger responses from the defensive system, but we also demonstrate that vergence, which can delay the emotional response in inconsistent situations, is also a highly reliable cue for the activation of the defensive system.

Losses disguised as wins in modern multi‐line video slot machines

Players can wager on multiple lines of modern slot machines. When they spin and fail to gain any credits, the machine goes into a state of relative quiet. By contrast, when they spin and win, these spins are accompanied by reinforcing sights and sounds. Such reinforcement also occurs when the amount won is less than the spin wager. We sought to show that these 'losses disguised as wins', or LDWs, would be as arousing as wins, and more arousing than regular losses. MEASUREMENT AND PARTICIPANTS: We measured skin conductance response (SCR) amplitudes and heart-rate changes following wins, LDWs and losses for 40 novices playing a multi-line slot machine. SCR amplitudes were similar for wins and LDWs-both were significantly larger than for regular losses. For novice players, the reinforcing sights and sounds of the slot machine triggered arousal on wins, where the number of credits gained was greater than the spin wager, but also on 'losses disguised as wins' where the amount 'won' was less than the spin wager. Despite the fact that players lost money on these spins, these outcomes were more arousing than regular losses where no credits were gained. Although these findings involve novice players, the heightened arousal associated with these losses may have implications for the development of problem gambling, as arousal has been viewed as a key reinforcer in gambling behaviour.

Task relevance and recognition of concealed information have different influences on electrodermal activity and event-related brain potentials

This study aimed at differentiating between memory- and task-related processes and their correlates on the electrodermal and electrocortical level during information concealment. Variations of the Guilty Knowledge Test were implemented in two experiments while we measured skin conductance responses (SCRs) and event-related brain potentials. P300 amplitudes were specifically enhanced for items requiring a deviant behavioral response but they were not sensitive to concealed knowledge. In contrast, N200 amplitudes differed between memorized and irrelevant items in both experiments. SCR measures reflected a combined influence of task relevance and probe recognition, and they provided incremental validity above N200 amplitudes. These results suggest that the P300 mainly reflects task relevance in the given experimental setting whereas the N200 amplitude is sensitive to previously encoded information and potentially linked to response monitoring processes.

Sensitivity to masked conditioned stimuli predicts conditioned response magnitude under masked conditions

Expression of conditioned fear has been reported to be independent of perceptual awareness of conditioned stimuli (CSs). Previous studies have been criticized, however, for not adequately assessing perceptual awareness. We fear-conditioned participants to one of two symbols and measured skin conductance responses to dichoptically masked and unmasked CSs. Participants also performed a target detection task and sensitivity (d') to the masked conditioned stimuli (CS+, CS-) was measured. Results showed that sensitivity under masking conditions was related to conditioned responses to masked CSs but not unmasked CSs. Thus, a strong relationship between expression of conditioned fear and awareness of the CS+ emerges when the latter is assessed by signal detection methods. Without consensus on how awareness should be defined, these findings bring balance to previous studies that have typically used less sensitive assessments of awareness.

Skin Conductance Responses to Another Person’s Gaze in Children with Autism

The effects of another person's gaze on physiological arousal were investigated by measuring skin conductance responses (SCR). Twelve able children with autism and 12 control children were shown face stimuli with straight gaze (eye contact) or averted gaze on a computer monitor. In children with autism, the responses to straight gaze were stronger than responses to averted gaze, whereas there was no difference in the responses to these gaze conditions in normally developing children. Thus, these results showed that eye gaze elicited differential pattern of SCR in normally developing children and in children with autism. It is possible that the enhanced arousal to eye contact may contribute to the abnormal gaze behaviour frequently reported in the context of autism.

Skin conductance responses are elicited by the airway sensory effects of puffs from cigarettes

The airway sensations stimulated by smoking are an important source of hedonic impact (pleasure) for dependent smokers. The learning process by which these sensations become pleasurable is not well understood. The classical conditioning model predicts that airway sensory stimulation will elicit sympathetic arousal that is positively correlated with the hedonic impact that is elicited by airway sensory stimulation. To test this prediction, we measured skin conductance responses (SCRs) and subjective hedonic impact elicited by a series of individual puffs from nicotinized, denicotinized and unlit cigarettes. Nicotinized puffs elicited more subjective hedonic impact than denicotinized and unlit puffs partly as a result of the fact that they provided a greater level of airway sensory stimulation. We found that SCRs were not larger for nicotinized puffs than for denicotinized puffs, but that they were larger for both nicotinized and denicotinized puffs than for unlit puffs. We also found that the average SCR of a subject to denicotinized puffs was positively correlated with the average hedonic impact that a subject obtained from denicotinized puffs. Together, this suggests that SCR magnitude does not reflect within-subject variations in hedonic impact that are due to variations in the level of airway sensory stimulation, but that it does reflect individual differences in the amount of hedonic impact that is derived from a given level of airway sensory stimulation. The results of a post hoc correlation analysis suggest that these individual differences may have been due to variations in the prevailing urge to smoke. The implications of these findings for the classical conditioning model, as well as for other learning models, are discussed.

The influence of trait anxiety on autonomic response and cognitive performance during an anticipatory anxiety task

The interaction between emotion and cognition is thought to be intimately involved in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. In a set of studies, we investigated whether trait anxiety modulates cognitive performance and autonomic activity during an anticipatory anxiety task. Participants completed a letter-size decision-making task with two alternating 28-32 s background screen color-blocks. One of the colors was associated with the presentation of an aversive noise [unconditioned stimulus (UCS)]. Participants were aware of the background color that would (CTX+) and would not (CTX-) be paired with the UCS but did not know when or how often the UCS would be presented. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, the UCS was presented during the decision-making task in the CTX+ color-blocks using a partial reinforcement schedule. Different noises were presented each time to increase unpredictability and prevent habituation. In Experiment 2, the UCS was never presented during the decision-making task. Results suggested that only the paradigm used in Experiment 1 was successful in eliciting anticipatory anxiety. In Experiment 1, continuously measured skin conductance response (SCR) data suggested that anxiety was significantly greater during CTX+ compared to CTX- trials; no SCR differences were found between high and low trait-anxious participants. Results further indicated that high trait-anxious participants responded significantly faster on the decision-making task during CTX+ compared to CTX- trials, whereas low trait-anxious participants displayed the opposite pattern. Our results reveal an interesting dissociation between the effects of individual differences in trait anxiety on autonomic activity and cognitive performance during an anticipatory anxiety task.

Separating individual skin conductance responses in a short interstimulus-interval paradigm

We describe a new method for measuring skin conductance responses, designed to overcome the problem of overlapping skin conductance responses. The method relies on the assumptions that the underlying sudomotor nerve signal has a shorter time-constant than the skin conductance signal itself, and that the sudomotor bursts arrive as discrete, separated events. By converting the skin conductance signal into a time-series with a shorter time-constant, we are able to extract the separated peaks in the estimated underlying driver signal. The separated driver peaks are then used to re-estimate each individual skin conductance response. The method is automated and applied to a normative database of 735 subjects, for which skin conductance was measured during an auditory oddball paradigm.

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

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.

Modification of skin mechanical properties by eccrine sweat gland activity.

ArticleModification of skin mechanical properties by eccrine sweat gland activity.T Adams, and W S HunterT Adams, and W S HunterPublished Online:01 Apr 1969https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1969.26.4.417MoreSectionsPDF (723 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat Previous Back to Top Next Download PDF FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation Cited ByAnatomy of the sense of touch in sea otters: Cutaneous mechanoreceptors and structural features of glabrous skin23 August 2021 | The Anatomical Record, Vol. 305, No. 3The Body and the Brain: Measuring Skin Conductance Responses to Understand the Emotional Experience8 December 2016 | Organizational Research Methods, Vol. 22, No. 1Heat Stress17 August 2012Principles of Electrodermal Phenomena22 September 2011Fingertip Moisture Is Optimally Modulated During Object ManipulationT. André, P. Lefèvre, and J-L. Thonnard1 January 2010 | Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol. 103, No. 1Heat Stress16 April 2001Neural Control of Electrodermal Activity: Spinal and Reticular MechanismsInvestigations on the biomechanical significance of dermatoglyphic ridgesEvolutionary origins of the mammary glandMammal Review, Vol. 21, No. 2Histochemical aspects of stratum corneum function in the feline foot padArchives of Dermatological Research, Vol. 281, No. 8Is Mediation of Sweating Cholinergic, Adrenergic, or Both? A Comment on the LiteraturePsychophysiology, Vol. 24, No. 3Epidermal water and electrolyte content and the thermal, electrical and mechanical properties of skinLateralization in the Electrodermal System as a Function of Cognitive/Hemispheric ManipulationsPsychophysiology, Vol. 16, No. 2NEUROENDOCRINE CONTROL OF SWEAT GLANDSJournal of Investigative Dermatology, Vol. 69, No. 1Neural and Humoral Control of Apocrine GlandsJournal of Investigative Dermatology, Vol. 63, No. 1Electrodermal Recovery Rate, Goal-Orientation, and AversionPsychophysiology, Vol. 9, No. 5CARNIVORESTransepidermal Water Loss of Human NewbornsJournal of Investigative Dermatology, Vol. 54, No. 6 More from this issue > Volume 26Issue 4April 1969Pages 417-9 https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1969.26.4.417PubMed5775326History Published online 1 April 1969 Published in print 1 April 1969 Metrics

Some clinical vagaries associated with bacterial endocarditis: Hoff, Alfred: Minnesota Med. 23: 25, 1940

The airway sensations stimulated by smoking are an important source of hedonic impact (pleasure) for dependent smokers. The learning process by which these sensations become pleasurable is not well understood. The classical conditioning model predicts that airway sensory stimulation will elicit sympathetic arousal that is positively correlated with the hedonic impact that is elicited by airway sensory stimulation. To test this prediction, we measured skin conductance responses (SCRs) and subjective hedonic impact elicited by a series of individual puffs from nicotinized, denicotinized and unlit cigarettes. Nicotinized puffs elicited more subjective hedonic impact than denicotinized and unlit puffs partly as a result of the fact that they provided a greater level of airway sensory stimulation. We found that SCRs were not larger for nicotinized puffs than for denicotinized puffs, but that they were larger for both nicotinized and denicotinized puffs than for unlit puffs. We also found that the average SCR of a subject to denicotinized puffs was positively correlated with the average hedonic impact that a subject obtained from denicotinized puffs. Together, this suggests that SCR magnitude does not reflect within-subject variations in hedonic impact that are due to variations in the level of airway sensory stimulation, but that it does reflect individual differences in the amount of hedonic impact that is derived from a given level of airway sensory stimulation. The results of a post hoc correlation analysis suggest that these individual differences may have been due to variations in the prevailing urge to smoke. The implications of these findings for the classical conditioning model, as well as for other learning models, are discussed.