Physiology Experiment Tool: Galvanic Skin Response - A Non-Invasive Measure of Sympathetic Excitation
Study Finds Galvanic Skin Response as a Marker of Sympathetic Arousal During Mental Arithmetic Tasks
A recent study has revealed an intriguing relationship between Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and sympathetic arousal, specifically during mentally demanding cognitive tasks like mental arithmetic.
The study, which involved 82 participants, equally divided between males and females, aimed to detect sympathetic arousal using GSR during a mental arithmetic task. To achieve this, the subjects were equipped with appropriate transducers to record their GSR, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and temperature.
During the task, the subjects performed a simple subtraction task to induce sympathetic arousal and record the response as biological signals. The results showed that, indeed, GSR serves as a physiological indicator of sympathetic arousal. As the cognitive load and stress levels increased during the mental arithmetic task, there was a measurable rise in skin conductance levels.
Interestingly, the study found that 57 out of the 82 participants exhibited an increase in skin conductance amplitude during the mental arithmetic task. On the other hand, 25 subjects showed no rise in skin conductance amplitude, while 20 subjects had a significant rise in pulse rate and respiratory rate, but the change in skin conductance was not significant.
These findings suggest that GSR can be used along with vital parameters like pulse rate, respiratory rate, and temperature to discuss in vivo variations. Furthermore, the observed response may serve as a good indicator of homeostatic alteration.
The study also noted that while changes in response to fear or punishment were considered stressful and therefore indicative of sympathetic arousal, changes due to rewarding emotions were not considered a threat to well-being. However, the study did not consider changes in response to rewarding emotions as a threat to well-being.
In conclusion, the relationship observed in the study is that GSR increases with sympathetic arousal during mentally demanding cognitive tasks, such as mental arithmetic. This reflects activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body's "fight or flight" response, leading to heightened skin conductance due to increased sweat gland activity. As such, GSR can be a valuable tool in understanding and monitoring the body's response to cognitive and emotional stressors.
This study emphasizes that Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) can indicate sympathetic arousal, particularly during mentally taxing cognitive tasks like mental arithmetic. In this context, GSR increases due to heightened sweat gland activity, a response to the body's "fight or flight" mechanism. In the realm of health and wellness, mental-health conditions, fitness-and-exercise, and medical-conditions could potentially influence the GSR response to such tasks, offering intriguing possibilities for further research exploring the relationship between cognitive stress and various aspects of a person's well-being.
