Neural Control of Electrodermal Activity: Spinal and Reticular Mechanisms

Abstract

The existence of an electrical current related to sweating on the paws, and evoked by peripheral nerve stimulation, was first discovered in cats by (1878), a discovery which preceded by approximately ten years Féré's (1888) well-known description of electrodermal activity (EDA) in humans (see Neuman and Blanton, 1970, and Bloch, this volume, for an historical account). (1890) accurately linked skin potential variations in humans with the functioning of the sweat glands. But (1927) was really the first to clearly demonstrate in humans the close relationship between the activity of the sweat glands and electrodermal activity.