What is the skin conductance response?
The skin conductance response, also known as the electrodermal response is the phenomenon that the skin momentarily becomes a better conductor of electricity when either external or internal stimuli occur that are physiologically arousing.
“The skin has electric properties that change on the relatively short time scale of seconds and are closely related to psychological processes. These characteristics of skin, known for more than 100 years, have been widely used in research. Changes in electrodermal activity (EDA) and skin conductance are related to changes in eccrine sweating which are, in turn, related to activity in the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS).”
(Figner, B., & Murphy, R. O., Columbia University)
The change of skin conduction is measured by the sensor placed on your your palm oder two fingers. After fixing the sensor and connecting it to the USB port of your computer, you can sit and close your eyes. The sensor will measure all data and display them in a graph. When the graph displays a horizontal line, you are perfectly relaxed. In the beginning, only very few users are able to reach the relaxed state within 10 minutes. However, in time, users learn to reach relaxation faster and and get better at recognizing the state of true relaxation. The best of our customers learn to relax in 2 – 3 minutes after a month of practice.