The skin conducts electricity, and even a weak electrical signal introduced to the skin can be measured. The all.health band measures this Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) from the skin, which changes based on sweat gland activity.
One’s level of emotional arousal changes in response to the environment. If something is scary, threatening, joyful, or otherwise emotionally relevant, then the subsequent change in emotional response that one experiences alters the sweat gland activity.
It is noteworthy that both positive (“happy” or “exciting”) and negative (“threatening” or “saddening”) stimuli can result in an increase in sweat production – and thus an increase in skin conductance. The GSR signal therefore represents a change in emotional state, not the type of emotion experienced. Skin conductance, therefore, can offer an indirect insight into how mental activity results in physiological body reactions.
GSR may potentially be used to help detect the following:
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Other emotion detection