title: Dynamic causal modeling of spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance.
abstract: Spontaneous fluctuations (SF) in skin conductance are often used to index sympathetic arousal and emotional states. SF are caused by sudomotor nerve activity (SNA), which is a direct indicator of sympathetic arousal. Here, we describe a dynamic causal model (DCM) of how SNA causes SF, and apply variational Bayesian model inversion to infer SNA, given empirically observed SF. The estimated SNA bears a relationship to the number of SF as derived from conventional (semi-visual) analysis. Crucially, we show that, during public speaking induced anxiety, the estimated number of SNA bursts is a better predictor of the (known) psychological state than the number of SF. We suggest dynamic causal modeling of SF potentially allows a more precise and informed inference about arousal than purely descriptive methods.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United KingdomInstitute for Psychology and Ergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Dominik R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Bach
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United KingdomInstitute for Psychology and Ergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daunizeau
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United KingdomInstitute for Psychology and Ergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuelzow
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United KingdomInstitute for Psychology and Ergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Friston
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United KingdomInstitute for Psychology and Ergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dolan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055815:Young Adult