Persistence of background acoustic stimulation in controlling startle.

Hoffman, Howard S.; Marsh, Roger R.; Stein, Norman

doi:10.1037/h0027552

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The facilitating effect of continuous lead stimulation with durations longer than about 400-1,000 msec is well established in animal studies (e.g., Hoffman & Wible, 1%9; Stitt et aI., 1974), where it is seen even after several hours of continuous stimulation (Hoffman, Marsh, & Stein, 1969); in human studies, the effect occurs at least up to 2,000 msec (Graham, 1975) but was not obtained with stimulation lasting for 20 sec (Putnam, 1975). In previous work, the early, brief period of latency facilitation, seen in rats with lead stimuli of 4 to 5 msec (e.g., Stitt et aI., 1974), has not been viewed as part of the same process that produces facilitation of amplitude and latency at long intervals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Discordant effects of weak prestimulation on magnitude and latency of the reflex blink

1977

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In three experiments, the human blink response to 50-msec 105-dB white noise was markedly reduced by prior stimulation with weak tones, either 20 msec long or coextensive with lead intervals of 30 to 240 msec. Although the inhibitory effect was greater with a 70-dB than with a 60-dB lead tone, it was not affected by increasing the lead-tone duration beyond 20 msec. At lead intervals of 30 and 60 msec, the latency of blink onset was also reduced by prestimulation, and this effect was greater with the longer lead tones. Neither effect was an artifact of responding to the lead tone itself. The simultaneous occurrence of an inhibitory change in magnitude and a facilitatory change in latency, and the differential influence of lead stimulus duration, suggest that the magnitude and latency modifications involve different neural mechanisms with different time constants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Discordant effects of weak prestimulation on magnitude and latency of the reflex blink

1977

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“…Consequent to this idea is the hypothesis that PPI of the startle reflex should not diminish with prepulse habituation. Indeed, animal (Wu et al, 1984;Ison et al, 1973;Russo et al, 1975;Hoffman et al, 1969) and human [Abel et al, 1998;Lipp and Krinitzky, 1998; studies showed that repetitive preexposure to a prepulse does not produce any observable habituation of PPI of the startle reflex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Relationship of prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex to attentional and executive mechanisms in man

Bitsios

Giakoumaki

2005

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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“…It has been concluded that this source of reflex potentiation does not decay when stimulation is maintained beyond 2,000 msec (Davis, 1974). This conclusion follows from an experimental result provided by Hoffman, Marsh, and Stein (1969), who used two background conditions, either pulsed or continuous noise, and found that the advantage of the steady noise was stable over a 6-h exposure period. However, the outcome of this procedure is difficult to interpret because pulsed noise against a silent background inhibits the startle reflex.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Persistent effect of noise on the acoustic startle reflex in the rat

Cory

Ison

1979

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Continuous noise facilitates acoustic startle reflexes in the rat. Rats were exposed to noise for 23 h (Experiment 1) or to 23 h of startle eliciting stimuli at the rate of lImin (Experiment 2). Facilitation was reduced following habituation in Experiment 2, but was unaffected by prolonged noise exposure in Experiment 1. Reflex inhibition produced by a brief noise was not altered by habituation. Prior experiments show that increases in intensity of continuous noise engage two disparate processes which affect the acoustic startle reflex, one facilitatory (arousal) and one inhibitory (masking). The present data reveal that arousal is not diminished by prolonged noise exposure. The loss of facilitation following reflex habituation may be attributed to its increased susceptibility to masking, or to a direct effect of stimulus repetition on the arousal process normally associated with the noise background.The strength of the rat's acoustic startle reflex is affected by variation in the homogeneity and intensity of the acoustic background present at the time of the eliciting stimulus. A steady noise of moderate intensity facilitates the reflex, whereas a punctate noise which immediately precedes the eliciting stimulus inhibits it. The two experiments reported here examined the persistence of these modulating influences following prolonged continuous exposure to the noise and prolonged repetitive exposure to the eliciting stimulus. EXPERIMENT 1The facilitative effect of continuous noise on the rat's acoustic startle reflex is apparent within 100 msec of noise onset and becomes asymptotic within 2,000 msec thereafter (Hoffman & Wible, 1969). It has been concluded that this source of reflex potentiation does not decay when stimulation is maintained beyond 2,000 msec (Davis, 1974). This conclusion follows from an experimental result provided by Hoffman, Marsh, and Stein (1969), who used two background conditions, either pulsed or continuous noise, and found that the advantage of the steady noise was stable over a 6-h exposure period. However, the outcome of this procedure is difficult to interpret because pulsed noise against a silent background inhibits the startle reflex. In the absence of a silent neutral baseline, the experiment provided no conclusive evidence for facilitation: the difference between the two conditions may have been due to inhibition Reprint requests should be directed to Professor James R. Ison, Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627. This research was supported by grants from the NINCDS, NS-12443, and from the NIEHS, ES-OI247. rather than facilitation. Its stability over the 6-h period might characterize only the inhibitory process, which has been otherwise shown to be a stable phenomenon (Ison, Hammond, & Krauter, 1973). The present experiment provided the appropriate silent background condition as a control and extended the period of exposure to 23 h. The scheduling of tests about 24 h apart avoided effects on pre-and posttests that might occur from a differen...

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Persistence of background acoustic stimulation in controlling startle.

Cited by 27 publications

References 4 publications

Discordant effects of weak prestimulation on magnitude and latency of the reflex blink

Discordant effects of weak prestimulation on magnitude and latency of the reflex blink

Relationship of prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex to attentional and executive mechanisms in man

Persistent effect of noise on the acoustic startle reflex in the rat

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