Relationship Between Sweat Gland Activity and Electrical Resistance of the Skin

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Abstract
Quantitative relationships between numbers of active sweat glands and electrical skin resistance (ESR) were examined. Numbers of active glands were recorded at suitable intervals by use of the Netsky prism technique and electronic flash photography, while ESR of the same skin areas was recorded by a modification of the Jasper method. The reciprocal of resistance (conductance) varied approximately linearly with either increasing or decreasing numbers of active glands (representative correlation coefficient .899 ± .083), but the rising and falling curves differed slightly in slope and zero gland-count intercept. The data indicate that each active gland contributes a conduction path that is electrically analogous to adding a resistance in parallel to other sweat gland resistances, while the small variations in slope and intercept are related to hydration of nonsudorific conduction paths. The authors conclude that the validity of appropriately applied ESR methods as a measure of gradations in activity of sweat glands and sudomotor pathways appears well established. Submitted on August 20, 1956