How to choose and what for?
This table is based on the following paper but contains additional information and references:
Blechert, J., Peyk, P., Liedlgruber, M., & Wilhelm, F. H. (2016). ANSLAB: Integrated multichannel peripheral biosignal processing in psychophysiological science. Behavior research methods, 48 (4), 1528-1545.
| MEASURES | DESCRIPTION | e.g.REFERENCE |
| Electrodermal autonomic system | ||
| Skin conductance level (in μS) | Measures of cholinergic (muscarinic) sympathetic activity; popular indices of mental stress, cognitive load, and autonomic arousal | (Boucsein, 2011); |
| Skin conductance response (SCR) amplitude (in μS) | ||
| Nonspecific skin conductance fluctuations: rate (NS-SCR, in 1/min), amplitude (in μS), rise and half recovery times (in s) | (Fowles et al., 1981) | |
| Dynamic causal modeling of electrodermal activity | Modeling of sympathetic nerve activity bursts underlying spontaneous electrodermal activity | (Bach, Daunizeau, Kuelzow, Friston, & Dolan, 2011) |
| Cardiovascular autonomic system | ||
| Electrocardiography (ECG) | ||
| Heart rate (HR, in beats/min, bpm) | Frequently used measures of autonomic arousal, but dually innervated by sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems | (Jennings et al., 1981) |
| Interbeat interval (IBI = 60,000/HR, in ms) | ||
| Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) | HR variability measures of cardiac parasympathetic (or vagal) activity; reflect chronotropic functional dimension; different algorithms for estimation are available: fast Fourier transform (0.15–0.50 Hz high-frequency spectral power, in ms2 ), complex demodulated amplitude (in ms), variance after cubic polynomial detrending (Porges method, in ms2 ), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD, in ms) | (Berntson et al., 1997) |
| Low-frequency HR variability (in ms2 ) | 0.07–0.15 Hz spectral power (in ms2 ), measure related to blood pressure regulation | |
| Very-low-frequency HR variability (in ms2 ) | .025–.07 Hz spectral power (in ms2 ), measure related to temperature and hormonal salt and fluid regulation | |
| T-wave amplitude (in mV) | Sympathetic measure derived from ECG waveform | (Rau, 1991) |
| Pulse plethysmography | ||
| Pulse wave amplitude (in units) | Sympathetically controlled measure of peripheral vascular tone (vasoconstriction vs. -dilation) | (Zou, Grote, Eder, Peker, & Hedner, 2004) |
| Pulse wave transit time (PTT, in ms) | Surrogate index of blood pressure changes, sympathetically controlled | (Giassi, Okida, Oliveira, & Moraes, 2013) |
| Continuous blood pressure measurement | ||
| Systolic blood pressure (in mmHg) | Sympathetically controlled measure of peak arterial vascular pressure | (Shapiro et al., 1996) |
| Diastolic blood pressure (in mmHg) | Primarily sympathetically controlled index of minimum arterial vascular pressure | |
| Low-frequency blood pressure variability (in mm Hg2 ) | .05-.20 Hz spectral power of systolic blood pressure, measure of Mayer-wave activity related to blood pressure regulation | (Cohen & Taylor, 2002) |
| Impedance cardiography | ||
| Preejection period (PEP, in ms) | Time from beginning of electrical stimulation of the ventricles to the opening of the aortic valve; best validated noninvasive index of sympathetic cardiac efferent activity. Reflect inotropic functional dimension. | (Sherwood et al., 1990) |
| Stroke volume (in mL) | Measure of blood volume pumped by the left ventricle each heart beat; related to stress and fatigue | (Nelesen, Dar, Thomas, & Dimsdale, 2008) |
| Cardiac output (in liters/min, L/min) | Blood flow and resistance parameters that allow for threat versus challenge stress appraisal discrimination | (Tomaka, Blascovich, Kibler, & Ernst, 1997) |
| Systemic vascular resistance (in dyn·s/cm5 ) | ||
| Heather Index (in ohms/s2 ) | Measure of contractile force; related to stress and heart beat interoception | (Schandry, Bestler, & Montoya, 1993) |
| Left-ventricular ejection time (in ms) | Time from opening to closing of the aortic valve; measure of left-ventricular mechanical performance | (Covassin et al., 2011) |
| Peak ejection velocity index (in ohms/s) | Peak velocity/momentum of blood flow in the aorta; related to heart beat interoception | (Schandry et al., 1993) |
| Thermometry | ||
| Digit skin temperature (in °C) | Measure of sympathetically innervated peripheral vasoconstriction | (Rimm-Kaufman & Kagan, 1996) |
| Cheek skin temperature (in °C) | Measure of facial blushing | (Shearn, Bergman, Hill, Abel, & Hinds, 1990) |
| Distal-proximal skin temperature gradient (in °C) | Measure of circadian phase and thermoregulation | (Kolodyazhniy et al., 2012) |
| Respiratory system | ||
| Respiratory plethysmography (bands) | (Lorig, 2007) | |
| Respiratory rate (in cycles/min, cpm) | Measure of respiratory velocity, related to mental stress and arousal | (Grossman, 1983) |
| Tidal volume (in mL) | Index of respiratory depth, related to different emotional states and arousal | (Boiten, 1998) |
| Minute ventilation (in L/min) | Indirect measure of hyper-/hypoventilation, related to anxiety | (Kreibig, Wilhelm, Roth, & Gross, 2007) |
| Inspiratory duty cycle time (ratio) | Fractional inspiratory ratio in relation to total breath time; measure of central respiratory on/off switching mechanisms and index of speaking activity | (Wientjes, Grossman, & Gaillard, 1998; Wilhelm, Handke, & Roth, 2003) |
| Inspiratory flow rate (in mL/s) | Measure of central respiratory drive | (Wientjes et al., 1998) |
| Fractional rib cage contribution to tidal volume (ratio) | Measure of relative thoracic (vs. abdominal) dominance in breathing activity; higher during acute hyperventilation | (Wilhelm, Roth, & Sackner, 2003) |
| Sigh rate (in 1/min) | Breaths with tidal volume > 200 % of average; measure of respiratory depth dysregulation related to anxiety and pain | (Wilhelm, Gevirtz, & Roth, 2001) |
| Tidal volume variability (in mL) | RMSSD of tidal volumes; measure of respiratory depth dysregulation related to anxiety and pain | |
| Apnea rate (in 1/min) | Pauses after inspiration or expiration exceeding 5 s; measure of respiratory timing dysregulation and inhibited breathing related to anxiety and pain | |
| Cycle time variability (in s) | RMSSD of breath durations; measure of respiratory timing dysregulation and inhibited breathing related to anxiety and pain | |
| Respiratory blood gases | ||
| End-tidal partial carbon dioxide pressure (pCO2, in mmHg) | Direct measure of hyper-/hypoventilation from capnography, related to stress and anxiety; capnogram also provides respiratory rate | (Kreibig et al., 2007) |
| pO2 (in %) | Arterial oxygen saturation from pulse oximetry, related to inhibited or apneic breathing | (Pretto, Roebuck, Beckert, & Hamilton, 2014) |
| Muscular system | ||
| Facial electromyography (EMG) | ||
| M. corrugator supercilii activity (in μV) | Linearly related to negative affect (frown) | (Larsen, Norris, & Cacioppo, 2003) |
| M. zygomaticus major activity (in μV) | Nonlinearly related to positive affect (smile) | |
| Activity of various other facial muscles | Related to distinct emotion expressions | (Fridlund & Cacioppo, 1986) |
| Reflexive startle EMG | ||
| M. orbicularis oculi response magnitude (in μV) | Eye-blink in responses to startle probes, related to background stimulus valence and threat appraisals | (Blumenthal et al., 2005) |
| M. orbicularis oculi onset and peak latencies (in ms) | ||
| Bodily EMG | ||
| m. trapezius activity (in μV) | Index of mental effort induced muscular tension | (Roman-Liu, Grabarek, Bartuzi, & Choromanski, 2013) |
| Activity of various other muscles | ||
| Accelerometry | ||
| Body movement and angle (in g) | Gross motor activity (high-frequency component) and posture/angle (low-frequency component) | (Fahrenberg, Foerster, Smeja, & Muller, 1997) |
| Additional measures | ||
| Approximative entropy | HR derived measures of cardiovascular regulation dynamics from chaos and nonlinear systems theories | (Voss, Schulz, Schroeder, Baumert, & Caminal, 2009) |
| Sample entropy | ||
| Detrended fluctuation analysis scaling exponent | ||
| Maximum embedding dimension | ||
| Largest Lyapunov exponent | ||
| Hurst exponent | ||
| Coherence, transfer function and phase angle estimates of two oscillating signals | For example, to estimate baroreflex sensitivity from blood pressure and HR signals, see text for detail | (Saul et al., 1991) |
| Response coherence and optimal lag for two signals | For example, to assess the extent to which behavioral and physiological responses cohere during emotion | (Mauss et al., 2005) |