Psychophysiological Measures of Autonomic Nervous System Activity PDF

Psychophysiological measures of autonomic nervous system activity. (1)​ SCL and SCR are sensitive to various psychological states, including stress, anxiety, fear, and cognitive load. Changes in skin conductance are often used as indicators of emotional and physiological arousal....

Psychophysiological measures of autonomic nervous system activity. (1)​ SCL and SCR are sensitive to various psychological states, including stress, anxiety, fear, and cognitive load. Changes in skin conductance are often used as indicators of emotional and physiological arousal. Skin conductance level (SCL) - measure of the continuous electrical conductance of the skin, which varies with the amount of sweat produced by the sweat glands. Skin conductance response (SCR) - measure of the transient changes in skin conductance associated with discrete events, often used to assess physiological arousal and emotional responses. Quick notes: ​ SCL (Skin Conductance Level) is the steady level of sweat on your skin over time. It's like the baseline or overall "sweatiness" that shows your general emotional state. If you're stressed, anxious, or calm, this level will change accordingly. ​ SCR (Skin Conductance Response) is the sudden change in sweat when something specific happens—like getting startled or having a strong emotional reaction (like crying or feeling shocked). It's a quick spike that happens in response to an event. So in short: SCL = steady level of sweat. SCR = quick response or spike in sweat due to a specific trigger or emotion. —---------------------------------------------------------------- (2)​Cardiovascular activity - The cardiovascular system has two parts: the blood vessels and the heart. It is a system for distributing oxygen and nutrients to the tissues of the body, removing metabolic wastes, and transmitting chemical messages. (3)​Heart Rate - The electrical signal associated with each heartbeat can be recorded through electrodes placed on the chest. The recording is called an electrocardiogram (4)​Blood pressure - involves two independent measurements: a measurement of the peak pressure during the periods of heart contraction, the systoles, and a measurement of the minimum pressure during the periods of relaxation, the diastoles. Blood pressure is usually expressed as a ratio of systolic over diastolic blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mmHg). It is measured with a sphygmomanometer.