Effect of Hunger on the Acoustic Startle Reflex

Abstract

There are conflicting reports concerning the effect of intensity of appetitive drive on the acoustic startle reflex. Eight rats were tested for acoustic startle, using a within-subjects design, while under either 0 or 20 hr. food deprivation. No over-all significant effect was found, although 0-hr. deprivation showed greater startle on the last day of testing.

Acoustic startle reactivity while processing reward‐related food cues during food deprivation: Evidence from women in different menstrual cycle phases and men

“…This finding is consistent with previous research showing no sex effects on startle‐alone trials (Ludewig et al., ; Swerdlow et al., ). An increase of acoustic startle reflex in the absence of other stimuli during food deprivation has been reported in animal research (Anderson, Crowell, & Brown, ; Meryman, 1952, as cited in Brown & Farber, ; Szabo, ), though contradictory results have been found (Armus & Isham, ; Fechter & Ison, ). In the present study, deprived subjects showed a general enhanced startle response during the habituation trials, but this difference did not appear during the later phase of the experiment, when startle was elicited during neutral foreground slide presentation.…”