We're Not Lying About Galvanic Skin Response

The interesting thing about the GSR2 is that it was designed in the early 70's by Thought Technology Ltd - www.thoughttechnology.com - and was one of the Sharper Image's first best selling products. It went on to be sold in many venues including the American Express and Nightengale Conant Catalogues.

In the early 80's, a series of behavioral programs were written to complement the use of GSR and temperature feedback for stress management, smoking cessation, weight control, sleep enhancement, and 7 other programs all written by leading psychologists or psychiatrists.

Why was it so popular and why has it continued to be used by so many clinicians and others?

I believe it is due to the Philosophy behind it's design. The inventor, Dr. Hal Myers, is a biomedical engineer, who observed the current state of the art of the nascent field of Biofeedback in the 70's and realized that the only way to get the technology into the hands of clinicians and the general public was to design a product which was easy to use and yet sensitive to physiological changes.

GSR monitors tiny changes in sweat gland pore size and electrolyte levels, which reflect the activity of the body's sympathetic nervous system - responsible or as a reflection in part for increases in blood pressure, heart rate, adrenaline release, and decreased peripheral blood flow - basically the bodies fight or flight syndrome, making it a wonderful reflection of stress.

To be easy to use translated into portability and the elimination of electrode leads.
Traditional GSR monitors of the day were large polygraph machines in laboratories and hospitals. Hal used some miniature electronic circuitry to create similarly sensitive measures in a unit which could be held in the hand with an ergonomic design that would naturally hold the fingers in place on the metal sensing plates. His first commercial model was the GSR1 – made from Walnut with gold plated brass sensors. In 1976, the GSR2™ was born.

Hal spent thousands of hours designing and refining the GSR2. Some of it's unique features include automatic power on and off with the touch or removal of the fingertips, a range control to cover anywhere from skin resistance of 10,000 ohms to 2 million ohms, a built in miniature speaker for tone feedback of rising or falling GSR levels (the higher the pitch, the higher the stress level), current consumption of approximately 1 milliampere from a 9 Volt battery (making it's usage time practically the shelf life of the battery) and the ability to plug in a external sensor leads, a temperature sensor (warming hands = decreasing stress level) and a meter for visual feedback).

In the 1980’s Thought Technology coupled the GSR2 with the Apple 2 and subsequently the IBM-PC with basic graphical software and called it CalmPute. When it was adapted to the PC, a company called Human Engineered Software (HES) decided to market it with their consumer science products, spearheaded by their spokesman Leonard Nemoy. Thought Technology delivered 600 units to HES; shortly thereafter – and before selling any product – HES went bankrupt. So, Thought Technology marketed the product on its own.

Thought Technology has now grown to be the world’s largest biofeedback manufacturer with over 50 employees and products ranging from the $60 GSR2 to the $7000 FlexComp-Infiniti. They employ over 15 engineers and software programmers to continually design innovative biofeedback products in diverse markets, ranging from the clinic to sports.

One of the more recent and main applications for biofeedback is in the field of neurofeedback, where electrodes monitor brainwave activity from one or more sites on the head. Neurofeedback has proven to be a very effective alternative or adjunctive treatment for attention deficit disorder (ADD) – a now major source of income for drug companies, leading to the drugging of our kids and now being targeted even more at adults. Certainly there are many cases where these drugs, such as Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta are effective; however, there is growing and very disturbing evidence that these drugs may do more harm than good (see http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=9561&news_channel_id=41&channel_id=41&rot=11 ).

Neurofeedback offers a viable and effective alternative. Patients are usually hooked up to a single electrode at the center of the head (Cz) and an electrode on each ear. Tone and visual feedback in the form of bargraph, animations, DVD, etc are provided which indicate when the ideal state is reached. This is basically a suppression of slow sleepy wave activity (Theta – 4 to 7 Hz) and enhancement of higher wave activity (SMR – 15 to 18 Hz). With practice, the brain seems to rewire itself and spontaneously produces this pattern without biofeedback or drugs.

There are many other applications of biofeedback from stroke rehabilitation to sports. Recently, AC Milan, the Italian Soccer team demonstrated and discussed it's great success over the last several years using Thought Technology’s FlexComp-Infiniti and ProComp-Infiniti biofeedback systems in training it's players at it's training complex near Milan. Players visualize their performance while being monitored by several sensors and provided feedback on stress-related changes. Gradually they learn to perform with minimal stress-robbing behavior.

There is much more information about biofeedback and its applications. It is no longer considered to be experimental and is well accepted by clinicians and the NIH as a complementary and adjunctive treatment to standard medical practice. Here are several good sources: www.bfe.org www.thoughttechnology.com www.mindgrowth.com.

Dear GSR biofeedback specialist.
You might be interested in this recent article about the application og GSR biofeedback in ADHD.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_jasonmar_060608_new_concept_in_testi.htm

I would like to bring to your attention a new concept in ADD testing. An objective physiological measure of ADHD has been elusive. However, research by Jason Alster MSc has shown that when an ADD persons try to sit still, do a boring task, or concentrate- they actually enter stress as measured by labile electro dermal activity ( EDA , GSR ). Whereas the GSR was traditionally used to teach relaxation it was overlooked as a tool to teach concentrationbeing dwarfed by neurofeedback.
Measuring electron flow in a circuit the body operates largely by a series of electrical impulses which have been shown to follow certain pathways and measure changes in the electrical resistance or the ability of the tissue to conduct electricity. This marker is positive in the majority of ADD clients tested. Then GSR biofeedback may be used to improve the stress result. A protocol using this valid objective physiological marker has just been published in a video- "Guide for GSR Biofeedback Techniques for the Natural ADHD Practitioner
(Amazon.com)
Using the GSR protocol only takes 10 minutes to perform. The test is good for children as well as adults. The measure may then be used to match a personal technique protocol to the client depending on what helps improve the GSR from lability to stability.

The GSR is measured as labile and increases in amplitude when the ADHD child tries to sit quietly for 2 minutes and then is increasingly more labile during an eyes closed condition. In some instances- the GSR in ADHD is stable - however, will not return to baseline after prompted with a mild stimulus like noise. This shows that ADHD- or trying to sit quietly and concentrate is a stressor for him her not unlike "disorientation" in dyslexias when tring to read. Many ADHD clients- upon producing a stable GSR after a biofeedback assisted relaxed concentration technique - will claim when asked-that this is the first time ever they felt what relaxation /concentration is. This may be compared to someone not having ever tasted an orange. You can't describe it to them. However, once they taste it- they know what it feels like. So too with the sense of relaxation, focus in ADHD. When asked to compare this sensation with the sensation of ADHD medication- the majority of ADHD people will say that this sensation is better than medication- and medication does not "feel well" even though it does help them concentrate . This shows that medication like Ritalin has a different mode of action working to help ADHD than natural and behavioral methods. The relaxation/concentration response is natural and lacking in most people with ADHD. This response might have been lacking at birth or was compromised with an unbalancing childhood medical problem ( ENT-sleep-gastric-operation) . However, once re-learned or acquired - the ADHD person can re-produce this
"sensation" upon need. Like learning art or music- some are born with it- but all can learn to be artists or musicians with the proper instruction. This objective physiological test is easy to replicate only with the most sensitive /graphic GSR biofeedback equipment (like Thought Stream or Mindlife for example).My hope isthat this valid measure will be used as a future screening test in ADHD clinics and schools.

--
Jason Alster MSc
Center For Biofeedback, Learning Strategies, and Peak Performance
http://jasonalster.googlepages.com/home