Electrodermal Activity (EDA) for Treatment of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorder Patients: A Review

Electro-Dermal Activity (EDA) is the change of electrical properties of the skin with respect to the sweat excretion, measured at the surface of the skin. By applying a small constant voltage, the variation of the Skin Conductance (SC) can be measured non-invasively. In fact, when the subject responds to features such as emotionally loaded videos, images, positive and negative stimuli, etc., during which the human skin reveals information about the actions such as anxious, nervous, afraid, psyched, stoked and shocked stages. Through this process the electrical conductivity of the skin changes. Also, the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is the measure of the variation in SC in response to the sweat secretion activity. The GSR is often referred as EDA or SC. In this paper, the existing techniques available for EDA measurement and treatment of a person are reviewed. This study summarizes, the EDA signal features, which signifies the autonomic brain system activity, which has wide applications in the psychological research domain.