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Dynamic causal modeling of spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance

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 vari...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bach, Dominik R, Daunizeau, Jean, Kuelzow, Nadine, Friston, Karl J, Dolan, Raymond J
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Inc 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3039749/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20557485
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01052.x
Descripción
Sumario: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.