Low startle magnitude may be a behavioral marker of vulnerability to cocaine addiction

Abstract

Cocaine addicted men have low startle magnitude persisting during prolonged abstinence. Low startle rats show greater cocaine self-administration than high startle rats. Low startle may be a marker of a vulnerability to heightened cocaine-related behaviors in rats and similarly may be a marker of vulnerability to cocaine addiction in humans.

Heritability of acoustic startle magnitude and latency from the consortium on the genetics of schizophrenia

“…Because lower magnitude of startle has not often been reported in schizophrenia, this measure is not being investigated as an endophenotype for schizophrenia. However, there are both human and rodent data indicating that low startle magnitude may be a marker of vulnerability to cocaine use (Corcoran et al, 2011;Wheeler et al, 2017).…”