Effects of anxiety drugs on the modification of the acoustic startle reflex by noise gaps

Hijzen, Theo H.; Rijnders, Henk J.; Slangen, Jef L.

doi:10.1016/0091-3057(91)90240-3

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The sedation produced by midazolam can be characterized as slightly reduced efficiency of central nervous system transmission. Given sufficiently high doses of midazolam, an individual will demonstrate affected attention, perception, and memory retrieval, including increased reaction time in the detection of unusual tones (Reinsel et al, 1991); reduced amplitude of startle responses to unusual stimuli (Hijzen, Rijnders, & Slangen, 1991); reduced amplitude of the P300 component of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in response to unusual tones (Reinsel et al, 1991); reduced peak velocity of eye movement saccades (Ball, Glue, Wilson, & Nutt, 1991); increased visual thresholds (Groner et al, 1992); reduced force in muscular grip (Coldwell et al, 1998); and increased latencies of semantic verification (Jackson, Louwerens, Cnossen, & de Jong, 1993).…”

Section: Midazolam's Cognitive Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Midazolam amnesia and conceptual processing in implicit memory.

Hirshman¹,

Passannante²,

Arndt³

2001

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Prominent theories of implicit memory (D. Schacter, B. Church, & J. Treadwell, 1994) emphasize the dominant role of perceptual processing in mediating priming on perceptual implicit memory tests. Examinations of the effects of conceptual processing on perceptual implicit memory tests have produced ambiguous results. Although a number of investigations (e.g., J. Toth & R. Hunt, 1990) have demonstrated that variations in conceptual processing affect priming on perceptual implicit memory tests, these effects may arise because of the contaminating effects of explicit memory. The current experiment examined this controversy using midazolam, a benzodiazepine that produces a dense, albeit temporary, anterograde amnesia when injected prior to study. The experiment examined whether the effects of generation found on the implicit memory test of perceptual identification were affected by a midazolam injection prior to study. Results demonstrated that midazolam substantially diminished generation effects in free and cued recall, as well as overall performance on these tests, but had no detectable effect on the generation effect in perceptual identification.

show abstract

Section: Midazolam's Cognitive Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Midazolam amnesia and conceptual processing in implicit memory.

Hirshman¹,

Passannante²,

Arndt³

2001

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this test, acoustic startle amplitude is increased when it is elicited in the presence of a stimulus that had previously been paired with a shock. Others reported that benzodiazepines in standalone trials reduces the amplitude and that an inverse benzodiazepine agonist enhanced the amplitude of stand-alone trials (12,22,23,36).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The effects of methylphenidate and diazepam on the acoustic startle reflex in stand alone and prepulse trials in healthy volunteers

Luijtelaar

Vries²

2002

Neuroscience Res Communica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary The effects of the catecholamine reuptake blocker methylphenidate (Ritalin @, 20 mg) and the benzodiazepine diazepam (Valium 8, 10 mg) on the acoustic eye blink reflex were investigated in healthy volunteers. Stand alone as well as prepulse trials were presented and three intensities of stand-alone stimuli and three intensities of prepulses were used in an double blind cross-over study (n=12). Measured were the amplitude, area under the curve, onset and peak latencies of the blink reflex. It was found that the amplitude, area under the curve, and the onset latency were dependent on the intensity of the stand-alone and prepulse trials. The amplitude of the startle reflex was not changed by methylphenidate, diazepam showed a large reduction in the amplitude. The amplitude of prepulse trials was not reduced by methylphenidate, but strongly by diazepam. The onset latencies were prolonged in loud prepulse trials and after diazepam. The diazepam data not only suggest that firm reductions in stand-alone trials might have major consequences for the amplitude in prepulse inhibition trials, they equally show that sedation may affect the reflex amplitude in prepulse inhibition trials and that large reduction of the amplitude in prepulse inhibition trials are not exclusive for DA agents.

show abstract