it has been reported previously that modulatory effects of pleasant and unpleasant slides on the human acoustic reflex are observed only if startle probes are presented to the left ear or with binaural presentation. the present study examined the effects of the left and the right ear stimulation on modulated startle reflex (as indexed by eyeblink component, measured at the right eye) employing ...

objective: this study aimed to examine the effects of haloperidol and amphetamine on human startle response modulated by emotionally-toned film clips. method: sixty participants, in two groups (one receiving haloperidol and the other receiving amphetamine) were tested using electromyography (emg) to measure eye-blink muscle (orbicular oculi) while different emotions were induced by six 2-minute...

Low threshold Ca2+ currents mediated by T-type channels underlie burst spike activities of relay neurons in the thalamus. We have previously reported that knock-out mice for T-type channels show an enhanced nociceptive response to visceral pain, accompanied by an increase in tonic spikes in the absence of burst spikes in thalamic relay neurons. These results raised a possibility that T-type cha...

Low threshold Ca2+ currents mediated by T-type channels underlie burst spike activities of relay neurons in the thalamus. We have previously reported that knock-out mice for T-type channels show an enhanced nociceptive response to visceral pain, accompanied by an increase in tonic spikes in the absence of burst spikes in thalamic relay neurons. These results raised a possibility that T-type cha...

A population of reticulospinal neurons with short latency response to startle-inducing stimuli was identified in the nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis (NRPC) and nucleus gigantocellularis (NRGC) of the medial pontomedullary reticular formation. The threshold and magnitude of response to auditory stimuli was correlated in these cells and in the muscles mediating startle. Startle-related neuron...

The relation between long-term decrements of the acoustic startle response in rats and the development of freezing behavior during habituation training was examined. Freezing behavior developed over the initial trials of habituation training, and the rate of long-term response decrements was found to be inversely related to the development of freezing. Manipulations (neurological or behavioral)...

BACKGROUND People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have enhanced auditory perception, however, acoustic startle response to weak stimuli has not been well documented in this population. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the basic profile of acoustic startle response, including peak startle latency and startle magnitude to weaker stimuli, in children with ASD and typi...

The hypothesis that the standard acoustic startle habituation paradigm contains the elements of Pavlovian fear conditioning was tested. In a potentiated startle response paradigm, a startle stimulus and a light conditioned stimulus (CS) were paired. A startle stimulus then was tested alone or following the CS. Freezing behavior was measured to index conditioned fear. The startle response was po...