Advertisement
Research Article| Volume 20, ISSUE 2, P158-162, February 1985

Electrodermal activity among subtypes of depression

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(85)90075-7
Electrodermal activity among subtypes of depression
Previous ArticleCerebral blood flow decrements in chronic head injury syndrome
Next ArticleCerebrospinal fluid magnesium and calcium related to amine metabolites, diagnosis, and suicide attempts
      This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.

      Abstract

      To determine whether subgroups of depressed patients could be differentiated on the basis of electrodermal activity (EDA), the skin conductance of 36 depressed patients was recorded for two experimental conditions. In the first condition, subjects heard 10 85-dB tones after receiving instructions that were intended to relax the patients. In the second experimental condition, subjects heard 12 105-dB tones, one-half of which were signal tones containing a brief gap in the middle. The subjects were required to respond to the tones containing the gap by pressing a foot pedal. No differences in tonic or phasic EDA were detected on the basis of unipolar or bipolar subtype, response to the dexamethasone suppression test, severity of depression, medication status, or sex. However, patients who exhibited features of psychomotor retardation had significantly lower levels of tonic EDA than did their nonretarded counterparts. The EDA of the depressed patients as a group was uniformly low. These results are consistent with other reports indicating that, with the exception of the retarded/nonretarded distinction, there are no differences in EDA among the various subtypes of depression.
      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to Biological Psychiatry
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Register: Create an account
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      References

        • Carroll B.J.
        • Feinberg M.
        • Greden J.F.
        • Tarika J.
        • Albala A.A.
        • Haskett R.F.
        • James N.McI.
        • Kronfol Z.
        • Lohr N.
        • Steiner M.
        • deVigne J.P.
        • Young E.
        A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia: Standardization, validation, and clinical utility.
        Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1981; 38: 15-22
        • Dawson M.E.
        • Schell A.M.
        • Catania J.J.
        Autonomic correlates of depression and clinical improvement following electroconvulsive shock therapy.
        Psychophysiology. 1977; 14: 569-578
        • Depue R.A.
        • Monroe S.M.
        The unipolar-bipolar distinction in the depressive disorders.
        Psychol Bull. 1978; 85: 1001-1029
        • Iacono W.G.
        • Lykken D.T.
        The orienting response: Importance of instructions.
        Schizophr Bull. 1979; 5: 11-14
        • Iacono W.G.
        • Lykken D.T.
        • Peloquin L.J.
        • Lumry A.E.
        • Valentine R.H.
        • Tuason V.B.
        Electrodermal activity in euthymic unipolar and bipolar affective disorders: A possible marker for depression.
        Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1983; 40: 557-565
        • Iacono W.G.
        • Lykken D.T.
        • Peloquin L.J.
        • Lumry A.E.
        • Valentine R.H.
        • Tuason V.B.
        Electrodermal activity in euthymic patients with affective disorders: One-year retest stability and the effects of stimulus intensity and significance.
        J Abnorm Psychol. 1984; 93: 304-311
        • Lader M.H.
        • Wing L.
        Physiological measures in agitated and retarded depressed patients.
        J Psychiatr Res. 1969; 7: 89-100
        • Lapierre Y.D.
        • Butter H.J.
        Agitated and retarded depression: A clinical psychophysiological evaluation.
        Neuropsychobiology. 1980; 6: 217-223
        • Noble P.
        • Lader M.
        The symptomatic correlates of the skin conductance changes in depression.
        J Psychiatr Res. 1971; 9: 61-69
        • Spitzer R.L.
        • Endicott J.
        • Robins E.
        Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a Selected Group of Functional Disorders.
        3rd ed. State Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research, New York1977
        • Toone B.K.
        • Cooke E.
        • Lader M.H.
        Electrodermal activity in the affective disorders and schizophrenia.
        Psycholog Med. 1981; 11: 497-508
        • Ward N.G.
        • Doerr H.O.
        • Storrie M.C.
        Skin conductance: A potentially sensitive test for depression.
        Psychiatr Res. 1983; 10: 295-302

      Article info

      Publication history

      Received: July 23, 1984

      Footnotes

      ☆Supported by the Medical Research Council of Canada.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(85)90075-7

      Copyright

      © 1985 Published by Elsevier Inc.

      ScienceDirect

      Access this article on ScienceDirect
      We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To update your cookie settings, please visit the for this site.
      Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. except certain content provided by third parties. The content on this site is intended for healthcare professionals.


      RELX