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Hub AI
Electrodermal activity AI simulator
(@Electrodermal activity_simulator)
Hub AI
Electrodermal activity AI simulator
(@Electrodermal activity_simulator)
Electrodermal activity
Electrodermal activity (EDA) is the property of the human body that causes continuous variation in the electrical characteristics of the skin. Historically, EDA has also been known as skin conductance, galvanic skin response (GSR), electrodermal response (EDR), psychogalvanic reflex (PGR), skin conductance response (SCR), sympathetic skin response (SSR) and skin conductance level (SCL). The long history of research into the active and passive electrical properties of the skin by a variety of disciplines has resulted in an excess of names, now standardized to electrodermal activity (EDA).
The traditional theory of EDA holds that skin resistance varies with the state of sweat glands in the skin. Sweating is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and skin conductance is an indication of psychological or physiological arousal. If the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system is highly aroused, then sweat glands activity also increases, which in turn increases skin conductivity. In this way, skin conductivity can be a measure of emotional and sympathetic responses. But the theory associating sweat and EDA was already debated decades ago since individuals without sweat glands have an EDA signal : ""The source of the skin potential is presumed to be the sweat glands and the epidermis, although it is present in subjects with congenital absence of sweat glands ... this is not a test of “sweat” function, it is often included in this category as a measure of sudomotor activity".". This debate is ongoing since more recent technology (see Electrochemical skin conductance) demonstrated a real measure of sweat conductivity with several medical applications. A good way to differentiate both is to look at measures values and type :
More research is needed and inclusion of additional phenomena (resistance, potential, impedance, Electrochemical skin conductance, and admittance, sometimes responsive and sometimes apparently spontaneous) suggest that EDA is more complex than it seems. There is a knowledge limitation, as wearable brands have included an EDA measure as a feature : "This aspect leads to the conclusion that the reliability of consumer wearables must be further investigated, especially by combining raw data collection with specific preprocessing techniques".
In 1849, Dubois-Reymond in Germany first observed that human skin was electrically active. He immersed the limbs of his subjects in a zinc sulfate solution and found that electric current flowed between a limb with muscles contracted and one that was relaxed. He therefore attributed his EDA observations to muscular phenomena. Thirty years later, in 1878 in Switzerland, Hermann and Luchsinger demonstrated a connection between EDA and sweat glands. Hermann later demonstrated that the electrical effect was strongest in the palms of the hands, suggesting that sweat was an important factor.
Vigouroux (France, 1879), working with emotionally distressed patients, was the first researcher to relate EDA to psychological activity. In 1888, the French neurologist Féré demonstrated that skin resistance activity could be changed by emotional stimulation and that activity could be inhibited by drugs.
In 1889 in Russia, Ivane Tarkhnishvili observed variations in skin electrical potentials in the absence of any external stimuli, and he developed a meter to observe the variations as they happened in real time.
The scientific study of EDA began in the early 1900s. One of the first references to the use of EDA instruments in psychoanalysis is the book by C. G. Jung entitled Studies in Word Analysis, published in 1906. Jung and his colleagues used the meter to evaluate the emotional sensitivities of patients to lists of words during word association. Jung was so impressed with EDA monitoring, he allegedly cried, "Aha, a looking glass into the unconscious!" Jung described his use of the device in counseling in his book, Studies in Word Association, and such use has continued with various practitioners.
The controversial Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich also studied EDA in his experiments at the Psychological Institute at the University of Oslo, in 1935 and 1936, to confirm the existence of a bio-electrical charge behind his concept of vegetative, pleasurable "streamings".
Electrodermal activity
Electrodermal activity (EDA) is the property of the human body that causes continuous variation in the electrical characteristics of the skin. Historically, EDA has also been known as skin conductance, galvanic skin response (GSR), electrodermal response (EDR), psychogalvanic reflex (PGR), skin conductance response (SCR), sympathetic skin response (SSR) and skin conductance level (SCL). The long history of research into the active and passive electrical properties of the skin by a variety of disciplines has resulted in an excess of names, now standardized to electrodermal activity (EDA).
The traditional theory of EDA holds that skin resistance varies with the state of sweat glands in the skin. Sweating is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and skin conductance is an indication of psychological or physiological arousal. If the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system is highly aroused, then sweat glands activity also increases, which in turn increases skin conductivity. In this way, skin conductivity can be a measure of emotional and sympathetic responses. But the theory associating sweat and EDA was already debated decades ago since individuals without sweat glands have an EDA signal : ""The source of the skin potential is presumed to be the sweat glands and the epidermis, although it is present in subjects with congenital absence of sweat glands ... this is not a test of “sweat” function, it is often included in this category as a measure of sudomotor activity".". This debate is ongoing since more recent technology (see Electrochemical skin conductance) demonstrated a real measure of sweat conductivity with several medical applications. A good way to differentiate both is to look at measures values and type :
More research is needed and inclusion of additional phenomena (resistance, potential, impedance, Electrochemical skin conductance, and admittance, sometimes responsive and sometimes apparently spontaneous) suggest that EDA is more complex than it seems. There is a knowledge limitation, as wearable brands have included an EDA measure as a feature : "This aspect leads to the conclusion that the reliability of consumer wearables must be further investigated, especially by combining raw data collection with specific preprocessing techniques".
In 1849, Dubois-Reymond in Germany first observed that human skin was electrically active. He immersed the limbs of his subjects in a zinc sulfate solution and found that electric current flowed between a limb with muscles contracted and one that was relaxed. He therefore attributed his EDA observations to muscular phenomena. Thirty years later, in 1878 in Switzerland, Hermann and Luchsinger demonstrated a connection between EDA and sweat glands. Hermann later demonstrated that the electrical effect was strongest in the palms of the hands, suggesting that sweat was an important factor.
Vigouroux (France, 1879), working with emotionally distressed patients, was the first researcher to relate EDA to psychological activity. In 1888, the French neurologist Féré demonstrated that skin resistance activity could be changed by emotional stimulation and that activity could be inhibited by drugs.
In 1889 in Russia, Ivane Tarkhnishvili observed variations in skin electrical potentials in the absence of any external stimuli, and he developed a meter to observe the variations as they happened in real time.
The scientific study of EDA began in the early 1900s. One of the first references to the use of EDA instruments in psychoanalysis is the book by C. G. Jung entitled Studies in Word Analysis, published in 1906. Jung and his colleagues used the meter to evaluate the emotional sensitivities of patients to lists of words during word association. Jung was so impressed with EDA monitoring, he allegedly cried, "Aha, a looking glass into the unconscious!" Jung described his use of the device in counseling in his book, Studies in Word Association, and such use has continued with various practitioners.
The controversial Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich also studied EDA in his experiments at the Psychological Institute at the University of Oslo, in 1935 and 1936, to confirm the existence of a bio-electrical charge behind his concept of vegetative, pleasurable "streamings".