Circuit Boards and Software for Heart Rate and Galvanic Skin Response Measurements

Synthetic Neurobiology Memo #3 (2009) Circuit Boards and Software for Heart Rate and Galvanic Skin Response Measurements. Online.

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This undergraduate research project report demonstrates methods developed to measure the heart rate and skin conductance of a subject. Schematics and formulae will be presented. The method for detecting heart rate is fairly straightforward, using a simply operational amplifier and some single pole filters. The method developed for GSR uses a logarithmic amplifier to provide a reading for skin resistances up to 10 Mohm. This paper will also briefly discuss the digitization methods used to transfer the analog data to a computer as well as past methods for GSR measurement which simply were not robust enough for our purposes. The entire package including PDF description, code, and schematics is downloadable here.