An examination of the relationship between race, skin color and a series of autonomic nervous system measures.

In the total population of 75 subjects, the skin albedo correlated significantly with skin resistance, a relationship which was not maintained when the total population was separated into its component subgroups of whites, blacks and Indians. The Indians, "anthropologically Caucasians" but skin color more akin to the blacks, exhibited mean skin reflectance and skin resistance intermediate to that obtained in the black and white groups respectively. Other differences and significant correlations between the autonomic functions in the three groups indicated a higher level of sympathetic tone in the Indians, although this could be attributed to the older age of this group. It was suggested from the results that skin color rather than race has a greater influence on skin resistance.