Troops in the Persian Gulf War have registered complaints consistent with CNS dysfunction that emerged after returning from the Gulf. A common experience among Persian Gulf War veterans was exposure to pyridostigmine bromide (PB) for prophylaxis against nerve gas exposure. To determine whether PB causes emergent CNS dysfunction, Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were given PB for ...

The startle response, consisting of behavioral and cardiovascular components, was used to study the reaction of the cardiovascular system to a mild environmental stressor. We used tactile air puff startle to study responses in adult Wistar-Kyoto and spontaneously hypertensive rats. In both strains, air puff elicits a transient motor response with rapid habituation over the test session of 30 tr...

The roles of the dorsal hippocampus and the central nucleus of the amygdala in the expression of contextual fear were assessed using two measures of conditioned fear: freezing and fear-potentiated startle. A discriminable context conditioning paradigm was developed that demonstrated both conditioned freezing and fear-potentiated startle in a context paired previously with foot shock, relative t...

There is conflicting evidence as to whether awareness is required for conditioning of the skin conductance response (SCR). Recently, Schultz and Helmstetter (2010) reported SCR conditioning in contingency unaware participants by using difficult to discriminate stimuli. These findings are in stark contrast with other observations in human fear conditioning research, showing that SCR predominantl...

Exaggerated startle and PTSD symptoms have been investigated primarily in relation to acute or Type I stressors. The present study examined PTSD symptoms and startle eyeblink response in relation to chronic or Type II stressors. Type II stressors were operationally defined as high levels of childhood corporal punishment and high levels of current partner aggression. This study recruited a sampl...

In prepulse inhibition (PPI), the startle response to a strong, unexpected stimulus is diminished if shortly preceded by the onset of a different stimulus. Because deficits in this inhibitory gating process are a hallmark feature of schizophrenia and certain other psychiatric disorders, the mechanisms underlying PPI are of significant interest. We previously used the invertebrate model system T...

Effects of alcohol and cognitive demands on reactions to threat were examined using startle response potentiation to index negative emotion. Men and women received nonalcoholic or alcoholic beverages prior to a series of trial blocks, signaled by light cues indicating that shocks might be delivered ("threat" blocks) or that none would occur ("safe" blocks). Within half of the blocks, participan...

The potential moderating effect of sensation seeking on anxious reactivity to threatening experiences was assessed using the affective modulation of startle-blink paradigm. Startle blinks, as measured by electromyographic (EMG) activity in response to loud (100 dB) white-noise stimuli, were elicited during the presentation of positive, neutral, and threatening visual images. Unlike participants...

Over the last two decades, scholars in information systems and consumer research have started to successfully apply methods from neuroscience to research questions on emotional aspects related to IS or consumption behavior. However, there is still a lack of understanding regarding which particular facets of emotion can actually be measured by the various neuroscientific techniques. Especially w...

The holoplanktonic pteropod mollusk Clione limacina has a unique startle system that provides a very fast, ballistic movement of the animal during escape or prey capture behaviors. The startle system consists of two groups of large pedal motoneurons that control ventral or dorsal flexions of the wings. Although startle motoneurons innervate the same musculature used during normal swimming, they...