scholarly journals Psychological correlates of nonspecific electrodermal responses

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dindar S. Bari

Abstract Spontaneous fluctuations in electrodermal responses are known as nonspecific electrodermal responses (NS.EDRs). The use of NS.EDRs as a tool in applied psychophysiological research has resulted in a variety of publications. NS.EDRs are examined separately as associated with the (as a biomarker of) levels of anxiety. The aim of this study was to compare changes (in terms of amplitude, frequency and time components) in NS.EDRs at two different (pre and post of an external stimulus) resting phases. NS.EDRs (nonspecific skin conductance responses (NS.SCRs), nonspecific skin potential responses (NS.SPRs), and nonspecific skin susceptance responses (NS.SSRs)) were recorded from 50 apparently healthy volunteers simultaneously at the same skin area. They were scored as NS.SCRs and NS.SSRs for changes greater than 0.02 μS and NS.SPRs greater than 0.02 mV. It was found that NS.EDRs, in particular NS.SCRs and NS.SPRs, were significantly changed in the second resting period, following the specific stimulus. More specifically, the amplitude of NS.EDRs were significantly decreased for NS.SCRs (p<0.001) and for NS.SPRs (p<0.005), but NS.SSRs remained stable. Moreover, the rise time of NS.SCRs was decreased in the second resting time. Furthermore, the frequency of responses was also changed. The computed NS.EDRs, in particular NS.SCRs and NS.SPRs could be of psychological interest and be used to study the electrodermal responses in detail. NS.SSRs were found to be robust with respect to nonspecific stimuli at various relaxation periods and their role was found to be less important in analysis of NS.EDRs in comparison to NS.SCRs and NS.SPRs at low frequency (20 Hz AC current). This should be considered in analysis of NS.EDRs. The computed NS.EDRs, especially NS.SCRs and NS.SPRs may be used as a useful measure of arousal due to their fast response and sensitivity to nonspecific stimuli and may also be used in assessment of individual differences.

2011 ◽  
Vol 495 ◽  
pp. 201-204
Author(s):  
Polykseni Vourna

When a soft ferromagnetic material is flown by an ac current and a magnetic field is applied at the same time, a major change of its impedance is occurred. The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of low frequency (1KHz-12KHz) ac current and the applied magnetic field on an amorphous magnetic wire (Co68Fe4.35Si12.5B15) without glass coating. For this purpose an experimental configuration has been setup, based on a Wheatstone bridge which receives an ac input signal from a frequency generator. The output is connected to the amorphous wire wrapped with a coil supplied by a dc voltage for the generation of the magnetic field. The output voltage pulse is measured for two cases a) The value of ac frequency is changing while the value of dc voltage applied to the coil remains constant (the magnetic field remains unchanged) and b) the magnetic field is changing while the ac frequency remains constant to a predefined value. Experimental results of the first scenario showed that when the frequency is altered a non-linear increase of the ac signal is observed at the output which shows an increase of the GMI effect and is related to the non-linearity of the wire’s permeability. For the second scenario the results showed an increase of the output signal offset (voltage) which also indicates an increase of the GMI effect.


1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (4) ◽  
pp. H1867-H1878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Bernardi ◽  
Daniel Hayoz ◽  
René Wenzel ◽  
Claudio Passino ◽  
Alessandro Calciati ◽  
...  

To determine whether skin blood flow is local or takes part in general regulatory mechanisms, we recorded laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF; left and right index fingers), blood pressure, muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), R-R interval, and respiration in 10 healthy volunteers and 3 subjects after sympathectomy. We evaluated 1) the synchronism of LDF fluctuations in two index fingers, 2) the relationship with autonomically mediated fluctuations in other signals, and 3) the LDF ability to respond to arterial baroreflex stimulation (by neck suction at frequencies from 0.02 to 0.20 Hz), using spectral analysis (autoregressive uni- and bivariate, time-variant algorithms). Synchronous LDF fluctuations were observed in the index fingers of healthy subjects but not in sympathectomized patients. LDF fluctuations were coherent with those obtained for blood pressure, MSNA, and R-R interval. LDF fluctuations were leading blood pressure in the low-frequency (LF; 0.1 Hz) band and lagging in the respiratory, high-frequency (HF; ∼0.25 Hz) band, suggesting passive “downstream” transmission only for HF and “upstream” transmission for LF from the microvessels. LDF fluctuations were responsive to sinusoidal neck suction up to 0.1 Hz, indicating response to sympathetic modulation. Skin blood flow thus reflects modifications determined by autonomic activity, detectable by frequency analysis of spontaneous fluctuations.


2010 ◽  
Vol 114 (1155) ◽  
pp. 299-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Estruch ◽  
D. G. MacManus ◽  
D. P. Richardson ◽  
N. J. Lawson ◽  
K. P. Garry ◽  
...  

AbstractShock-wave/turbulent boundary-layer interactions (SWTBLIs) with separation are known to be inherently unsteady but their physical mechanisms are still not totally understood. An experimental investigation has been performed in a supersonic wind tunnel at a freestream flow Mach number of 2·42. The interaction between a shock wave created by a shock generator (α = 3°, α = 9°, α = 13° and α = 15° deflection angles) and a turbulent boundary layer with thickness δ = 5mm has been studied. High-speed Schlieren visualisations have been obtained and used to measure shock wave unsteadiness by means of digital image processing. In the interactions with separation, the reflected shock’s unsteadiness has been in the order of 102Hz. High-speed wall pressure measurements have also been obtained with fast-response micro-transducers along the interactions. Most of the energy of the incoming turbulent boundary layer is broadband and at high frequencies (&gt;104Hz). An addition of low-frequency (&lt;104Hz) fluctuation energy is found at separation. Along the interaction region, the shock impingement results in an amplification of fluctuation energy due to the increase in pressure. Under the main recirculation region core there is only an increase in high frequency energy (&gt;104Hz). Amplification of lower frequency fluctuation energy (&gt;103Hz) is also observed close to the separation and reattachment regions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
A T Moorhouse ◽  
D C Waddington ◽  
M D Adams

Results of laboratory tests are presented in which 18 subjects, including some low frequency noise sufferers, were presented with low frequency sounds with varying degrees of fluctuation. Thresholds of acceptability were obtained for each sound and each subject, using the method of adjustment. These thresholds were then normalised to individual low frequency hearing threshold. It was found that sufferers tend to set thresholds of acceptability closer to their hearing threshold than other subject groups. Also, acceptability thresholds were set on average 5dB lower for fluctuating sounds. It is proposed that a sound should be considered fluctuating when the difference between L10 and L90 exceeds 5dB, and when the rate of change of the ‘Fast’ response sound pressure level exceeds 10dB/s


2018 ◽  
Vol 855 ◽  
pp. 152-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiding Zhu ◽  
Cunbiao Lee ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Jiezhi Wu ◽  
Shiyi Chen ◽  
...  

Instability evolution in a transitional hypersonic boundary layer and its effects on aerodynamic heating are investigated over a 260 mm long flared cone. Experiments are conducted in a Mach 6 wind tunnel using Rayleigh-scattering flow visualization, fast-response pressure sensors, fluorescent temperature-sensitive paint (TSP) and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Calculations are also performed based on both the parabolized stability equations (PSE) and direct numerical simulations (DNS). Four unit Reynolds numbers are studied, 5.4, 7.6, 9.7 and $11.7\times 10^{6}~\text{m}^{-1}$ . It is found that there exist two peaks of surface-temperature rise along the streamwise direction of the model. The first one (denoted as HS) is at the region where the second-mode instability reaches its maximum value. The second one (denoted as HT) is at the region where the transition is completed. Increasing the unit Reynolds number promotes the second-mode dissipation but increases the strength of local aerodynamic heating at HS. Furthermore, the heat generation rates induced by the dilatation and shear processes (respectively denoted as $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}$ and $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}}$ ) were investigated. The former item includes both the pressure work $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}1}$ and dilatational viscous dissipation $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}2}$ . The aerodynamic heating in HS mainly arose from the high-frequency compression and expansion of fluid accompanying the second mode. The dilatation heating, especially $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}1}$ , was more than five times its shear counterpart. In a limited region, the underestimated $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}2}$ was also larger than $w_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}}$ . As the second-mode waves decay downstream, the low-frequency waves continue to grow, with the consequent shear-induced heating increasing. The latter brings about a second, weaker growth of surface-temperature HT. A theoretical analysis is provided to interpret the temperature distribution resulting from the aerodynamic heating.


1993 ◽  
Vol 73 (3_part_1) ◽  
pp. 931-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paloma Chorot ◽  
Bonifacio Sandín

Eysenck's incubation theory of fear or anxiety was examined in a human Pavlovian conditioning experiment with skin-conductance responses as the dependent variable. The conditioned stimuli (CSs) were fear-relevant slides (snakes and spiders) and the unconditioned stimuli (UCSs) were aversive tones. Different groups of subjects were presented two tone intensities during the acquisition phase and three durations of nonreinforced CS (extinction phase) in a delay differential conditioning paradigm. Resistance to extinction of conditioned skin-conductance responses (conditioned fear responses) exhibited was largest for high intensity of tone and short presentations of the nonreinforced CS (CS + presented alone). The result tends to support Eysenck's incubation theory of anxiety.


1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (7) ◽  
pp. 931-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
J T Pearson ◽  
M Tsudzuki ◽  
Y Nakane ◽  
R Akiyama ◽  
H Tazawa

Our aim was to examine changes in heart rate (fh) during the embryonic and posthatching periods of the smallest precocial avian species, Coturnix chinensis. In experiment I, repeated measurements of mean fh were made for individual quail by ballistocardiogram (BCG) during incubation, and by both piezo-electric film and electrocardiogram (ECG) during the posthatching period (resting and thermoneutral conditions). Mean fh of all embryos increased during the second half of incubation and the first week posthatching, but a few embryos experienced a very brief period of decreased fh prior to internal pipping. After the first week, fh of posthatching quail was maintained at high levels (550-650 beats min-1), then decreased with age and increase in body mass. The maximal fh of quail chicks represents a greater posthatching increase in fh than is found in larger precocial chickens, this difference being attributable to the higher demands of thermoregulation at small body masses in the quail. In experiment II, the mean fh of quail embryos (day 2-16) was recorded by ECG, and embryonic stage, yolk-free embryo mass (wet and dry) and water content were measured. Mean fh was linearly related to embryo mass throughout incubation, except on the day prior to internal pipping, when the fh of a few embryos declined below this linear relationship. Measurements of instantaneous fh of late incubation embryos, young and adult quail all showed spontaneous fluctuations in fh. Two main frequency components of fh fluctuations were identified for the first time in an avian species. Low-frequency (mean 0.09 Hz, 12.6 s) and high-frequency (1.4 Hz, 0.9 s) oscillations in both young chicks and adult quail were detected and are considered to reflect baroreflex mediation of fh and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, respectively.


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 460-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han-Hwa Hu ◽  
Terry Bo-Jau Kuo ◽  
Wen-Jang Wong ◽  
Yun-On Luk ◽  
Chang-Ming Chern ◽  
...  

This study evaluates the validity of the transfer function analysis of spontaneous fluctuations of arterial blood pressure (ABP) and blood flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery (MCAFV) as a simple, convenient method to assess human cerebral autoregulation in patients with carotid stenosis. Eighty-three consecutive patients with various degrees of carotid stenosis and 37 healthy controls were enrolled. The carotid stenosis was graded based on the diagnostic criteria of duplex ultrasound. Instantaneous bilateral MCAFV and ABP of all participants were assessed noninvasively using transcranial Doppler sonography and the servocontrolled infrared finger plethysmography, respectively. Spectral analyses of ABP and MCAFV were performed by fast Fourier transform. The fluctuations in ABP as well as in MCAFV were diffracted into three components at specific frequency ranges designated as high-frequency (HF; 0.15 to 0.4 Hz), low-frequency (LF; 0.04 to 0.15 Hz), and very low-frequency (VLF; 0.016 to 0.04 Hz). Cross-spectral analysis was applied to quantify the coherence, transfer phase, and magnitude in individual HF, LF, and VLF components. Transcranial Doppler CO2 vasomotor reactivity was measured with 5% CO2 inhalation. The LF phase angle (r = −0.53, P < 0.001); magnitude of VLF (r = −0.29, P = 0.002), LF (r = −0.35, P < 0.001), and HF (r = −0.47, P < 0.001); and CO2 vasomotor reactivity (r = −0.66, P < 0.001) were negatively correlated with the severity of stenosis. Patients with unilateral high-grade (greater than 90% stenosis) carotid stenosis demonstrated significant reduction in LF phase angle ( P < 0.001) and HF magnitude ( P = 0.018) on the ipsilateral side of the affected vessel compared with their contralateral side. The study also revealed a high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy using LF phase angle and HF magnitude to detect a high-grade carotid stenosis. A strong correlation existed between the LF phase angle and the CO2 vasomotor reactivity test (r = 0.62, P < 0.001), and the correlation between the HF magnitude and the CO2 vasomotor reactivity (r = 0.44, P < 0.001) was statistically significant as well. We conclude that transfer function analysis of spontaneous fluctuations of MCAFV and ABP could be used to identify hemodynamically significant high-grade carotid stenosis with impaired cerebral autoregulation or vasomotor reserve.


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianquan Liao ◽  
Niancheng Zhou ◽  
Qianggang Wang

The design and parameter selection of low-ripple and fast-response direct current (DC) filters are discussed in this study with the aim of alleviating the influence of a DC-side low-frequency voltage pulsation on a sensitive load in a DC distribution network. A method for determining the DC filter parameters by using a mofatching most flat response algorithm is presented. The voltage transfer function of the DC-side filter in the DC distribution network is deduced to analyze its voltage transfer characteristics. The resonance peak value of the filter network is an important factor affecting the transfer speed of a filter. A pole-circle-based parameter optimization method is proposed to move the poles of the filter transfer function down and to the left of pole plane for finding the appropriate capacitance, inductance, and damping parameters. This approach effectively restricts the resonance peak value, accelerates the transfer speed, and maintains steady filtering results. Simulation and test results verify that the filter has low resonance value, rapid convergence ability, and an excellent filtering effect.


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