This biofeedback device measures the electrical

resistance of the skin and then changes the tone

of an audio oscillator depending on the reading.
This type of body measurement is also known as
galvanic skin response (GSR), electrodermal
response (EDR), psychogalvanic reflex (PGR),
and skin conductance response (SCR). This type
of device has been used in the medical field to
measure a patient’s emotional response and to
treat disorders such as phobias, anxiety, and
stuttering.
One interesting and controversial use of a
biofeedback device is called an E-meter,
which is used in some forms of the Dianetics
and Scientology auditing. This device is formally
known as the Hubbard electrometer, for the
Church of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron
Hubbard. Interestingly, the Church of Scientology
restricts use of the E-meter to trained
professionals, seeing it as a religious artifact that
can measure the state of electrical characteristics
of the static field surrounding the body. The
meter is believed to reflect or indicate whether or
not the confessing person has been relieved from
the spiritual impediment of his or her sins. It can
be used only by Scientology ministers or
ministers in training, and these devices are
manufactured at the Church of Scientology‘s
Golden Era Productions facility in California.
Biofeedback also can be used to measure a
person’s response to physical activity because the
direct result of exertion will be a response in the
sweat glands. Maybe you need to learn to speak
publicly without breaking a sweat or to beat a liedetector test? No matter what your “evil genius”
motives are, you probably will find ways to use
the biofeedback device for your own agenda.
The biofeedback device is a voltage-controlled
audio oscillator that increases its frequency as
resistance decreases. Thus, the more you sweat,
the higher is the pitch of the resulting output. The
oscillator also has a volume control so that you
won’t go insane from the nonstop sound that it
produces while in use. For silent operation, the
speaker can be removed and the output fed into
any multimeter with a frequency-measuring
function to display the results in hertz (Hz) rather
than an audio signal. Let’s review Figure 1-1 to
see how the biofeedback device works.
Transistors Q1 and Q2, along with R1, R2, R3,
R4, C1, and C2, form a basic audio oscillator that
runs on a 9-V battery. To make the tone of the
oscillator change in response to voltage, Q3 acts
as an amplifier that feeds a voltage back into the
circuit between R2 and R3, changing the output
frequency. Since the base of Q3 is connected
directly to the subject’s body along with the 9-V

Biofeedback Device