title: Methodological considerations in ambulatory skin conductance monitoring.
abstract: Little is known how much skin conductance (SC) recordings from the fingers are affected by factors such as electrode site deterioration, ambient temperature (TMP), or physical activity (ACT), or by age, sex, race, or body mass index. We recorded SC, TMP, and ACT in 48 healthy control subjects for a 24-hour period, and calculated SC level (SCL), its standard deviation, the coefficient of SC variation, and frequency and amplitude of non-specific SC fluctuations. One method of assessing electrode site deterioration showed an average decline of 20%, while a second method found no significant change. All SC measures were higher during waking than sleep. Other factors influenced different measures in different ways. Thus, 24-hour SC recording outside the laboratory is feasible, but some measures need to be corrected for the influence of confounding variables.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine & VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave, Bldg 4, M/C 116F, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. sigrun.doberenz@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sigrun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doberenz
authors.forename: Walton T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wollburg
authors.forename: Nina I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Maslowski
authors.forename: Sunyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000294:innervation; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D011601:Psychophysics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult