Affective scientists can measure the peripheral nervous system to make inferences about one's emotional state. For example, they can measure eye movements, blood pressure and volume, heart rate, and electrodermal activities to infer one' emotional states (e.g. fear, anxiety, anger, etc.)

Alma College

Discusses how emotions can be measured in experiments 
- Questionnaires
- Facial Expressions
- Central Nervous System
- Peripheral Nervous System

Measuring Emotions

The peripheral nervous system are all nerve components (nerve, ganglia) outside of the brain and spinal cord. The word "peripheral" describes its function in connecting limbs and organs to the central nervous system. It is functionally divided into two components:
- somatic nervous system
- autonomic nervous system

Peripheral Nervous System

Niedenthal, P. M., & Ric, F. (2017). Psychology of Emotion (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.

Psychology of Emotion

Refers to various scales and self-report measures in which people indicate their emotions. 
- Verbal Measures
- Non-verbal formats

Questionnaires

Emotions can be measured through the movement of facial muscles and inferred through one's judgement of anothers expressions.

Facial Expression Measurements

Affective scientists often use the central nervous system to look at what brain systems are activated during emotional experiences. Two common methods used for this are: 
- Electroencephalography
- Neuroimaging 

Measuring Emotions Through the Central Nervous System

Measuring Emotions Through the Peripheral Nervous System

Some COVID-19 patients have presented with peripheral neurological symptoms. Although it is not a common complication of COVID-19, it is worth investigating all possible causes of the neurological symptoms that arise.

Effects of COVID-19 on the Peripheral Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a subset of the peripheral nervous system. The word "autonomic" describes its role in regulating involuntary and unconscious bodily function, such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and sexual arousal. The system consists of motor neurons (ganglia) and its axonal connections, and is functionally divided into three components:
- sympathetic nervous system
- parasympathetic nervous system 
- enteric nervous system

Autonomic Nervous System

The somatic nervous system is a part of Peripheral Nervous System. It controls the voluntary functions of the body through skeletal muscles. There are two types of nerves in the somatic nervous system: afferent (sensory) nerves and efferent (motor nerves). Afferent nerves relay information from the body to the central nervous system. It primarily relays sensory information like pain. smell, etc. Efferent nerves relay information from the central nervous system to the body. Somatic Nervous System consists of two parts: cranial nerves and spinal nerves. Cranial nerves are responsible for carrying information to and fro from the brain stem. Spinal nerves carry information to and fro from the spinal cord. 

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