PsPM-FR: Physiological Signals from a Visual-Electrical Fear Conditioning Task

Data from 23 or 31 healthy, unmedicated participants (aged approximately 23 years) includes skin conductance response (SCR), electrocardiogram (ECG), and respiration measurements recorded during a Pavlovian discriminant delay fear conditioning task. The task used visual conditioned stimuli (CS) and electrical unconditioned stimuli (US), with an extinction phase that included auditory startle probes. Columns likely contain trial-by-trial physiological signals, CS/US information, and keypress response times.

Use Cases

• Modeling skin conductance response (SCR) dynamics during fear acquisition and extinction phases.
• Analyzing heart rate variability (from ECG) in response to conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.
• Investigating the relationship between keypress response times and physiological arousal during conditioning trials.
• Studying the effect of auditory startle probes on physiological measures during the extinction phase.

Strengths

• Includes multi-modal physiological recordings (SCR, ECG, respiration) from a controlled experimental paradigm.
• Provides detailed stimulus parameters (e.g., US: 0.5 s, 0.2-ms pulses, 10 Hz; CS-US SOA: 3.5 s).
• Dataset is described as Open Access, facilitating reuse and verification.

Limitations

• Conflicting participant counts: two sources report 23 participants, while another reports 31, creating uncertainty about the exact sample size.
• Column names and the exact data structure are not specified in the provided metadata.
• The last update date and total data size (rows, file size) are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Athina Tzovara, University of Zurich

Collection Method

Data collected from a controlled laboratory experiment involving a classical discriminant delay fear conditioning task.