Preconditioning and excitability of the human orbicularis oculi reflex as a function of state

Silverstein, Louis D.; Graham, Frances K.; Calloway, J.M

doi:10.1016/0013-4694(80)90133-9

Cited by 72 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Abundant evidence indicates that PPI at short lead intervals (!250 ms) relies mainly on automatic (preattentive) mechanisms [1,6]. Nevertheless, this evidence does not rule out the possibility that PPI might also be modulated by controlled attentional processes [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Attentional Modulation of Prepulse Inhibition: A New Startle Paradigm

et al. 2004

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There is increasing evidence for an influence of directed attention on prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex. However, the existing paradigms for the assessment of this effect have methodological problems and pitfalls. In particular, most previous studies used a paradigm which directed the attention of subjects to the prepulse only. In the present study, we used a modified paradigm which directed the attention of the subjects both to the prepulse and the pulse. Twenty healthy male subjects were instructed trial by trial either to relax or to attend to the startle stimulus and decide whether it was a ‘simple’ (prepulse alone or pulse alone) or a ‘composite’ trial (pulse plus a prepulse or postpulse). Directed attention enhanced PPI at the lead interval of 240 ms, but not at the lead interval of 100 ms. This finding is in line with the idea that attention contributes to PPI when there is enough time for the attentional mechanisms to exert an influence. This new paradigm offers a valuable tool for the study of attentional modulation of sensorimotor gating in humans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Attentional Modulation of Prepulse Inhibition: A New Startle Paradigm

et al. 2004

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“…incomplete myelination of the trigeminal and facial nerves as well as decreased synapses between interneurons in the brainstem pathway involved in this reflex arc (24). An alteration in sleep state may also account for differences in response between infants and adults (25). We observed a decreased eyeblink amplitude in quiet (non-REM) as compared to active (REM) sleep in the infants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Reflex Modification Audiometry: Assessment of Acoustic Sensory Processing in the Term Neonate

et al. 1988

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A B S T R A a . Behavioral and physiological work in animals and adult humans have established the sensitivity of various procedures and allowed delineation of the neuroanatomical pathways involved in sensory processing. Herein we used the glabellar reflex and reflex modification procedures to assess acoustic sensory processing capabilities in the term newborn infant. The eyeblink-eliciting device consisted of a miniature solenoid which could deliver a controlled tap. A photoreflective densitometer attached to a TDH-39 earphone assessed the eyeblinks. A total of 98 term infants was studied to determine how a response to a reflex-eliciting event (tap) was modified (either augmented or inhibited) by a mild exteroceptive stimulus (tone) which was presented at an appropriate lead interval. Ninety adult subjects were given identical testing procedures and their data were compared to that of the infants. The results of this study showed that newborn infants reliably exhibited an eyeblink response after a tap to the glabella. With fixed intensity tones, frequencies from 1 to 4 kHz produced equivalent amounts of reflex augmentation in infants and adult subjects. Blink amplitude increased as a function of increased tap and tone intensity in both infants and adults. State change was shown to affect the amplitude of the reflexive eyeblink, but not the augmentation effect. However, neonates failed to show inhibition to either acoustic or tactile stimuli at an interstimulus interval that produced significant inhibition in the adult. These data indicate that reflex modification procedures provide an objective assessment of acoustic sensory processing in the term neonate. Further, they not only suggest that areas of the central nervous system that process sensory stimuli are not fully developed even at term birth, but that the neural system for augmentation and inhibition may be independent of each other. (Pediatr Res 23: 357-363, 1988) Abbreviation ical and electrophysiological measures, reflex behavior, and learning procedures. Not all of these methods are useful at all ages; not all provide objective measurement of auditory perception.The purpose herein was to investigate the applicability of a psychophysical approach, based on behavioral phenomenon called reflex modification, to objectively assess acoustic sensory competence in the term infant (2, 3). This testing procedure originated in the observation that a variety of auditory and nonauditory stimuli consistently evoked a startle reflex in both humans and animals, the most constant component of which was the eyeblink (4-7). Subsequent investigation established that the elicited reflex could be modulated in amplitude by a variety of sensory stimuli and that the changes in eyeblink response produced by these stimuli could be monitored by measuring the amplitude of the blink component of the reflex (8, 9). Our study used a tone as a reflex-modifying event and a tap to the glabella as the reflex-eliciting stimulus. By varying the characteristics of the tone and its tempo...

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“…Prepulse inhibition has been hypothesized to be automatic, or 'hard-wired', because it is unlearned , requires only midbrain and lower brain structures (Leitner and Cohen, 1985), occurs in decorticate animals (Davis and Gendelman, 1977) and also occurs in human adults while they are asleep (Silverstein et al, 1980). However, some studies have initiated some controversy on the automatic nature of the prepulse inhibition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the chronic intake of and withdrawal from diazepam on emotional reactivity and sensory information processing in rats

Ross

Castilho

Brandão

et al. 2008

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry

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It has been demonstrated that, on abrupt withdrawal, patients with chronic exposure can experience a number of symptoms indicative of a dependent state. In clinical patients, the earliest to arise and most persistent signal of withdrawal from chronic benzodiazepine (Bzp) treatment is anxiety. In laboratory animals, anxiety-like effects following abrupt interruption of chronic Bzp treatment can also be reproduced. In fact, signs that oscillate from irritability to extreme fear behaviours and seizures have been described already. As anxiety remains one of the most important symptoms of Bzp withdrawal, in this study we evaluated the anxiety levels of rats withdrawn from diazepam. Also studied were the effects on the motor performance and preattentive sensory gating process of rats under diazepam chronic treatment and upon 48-h withdrawal on three animal models of anxiety, the elevated plus-maze (EPM), ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) and startle + prepulse inhibition tests. Data obtained showed an anxiolytic-and anxiogenic-like profile of the chronic intake of and withdrawal from diazepam regimen in the EPM test, 22-KHz USV and startle reflex.Diazepam chronic effects or its withdrawal were ineffective in promoting any alteration in the prepulse inhibition (PPI). However, an increase of PPI was achieved in both sucrose and diazepam pretreated rats on 48-h withdrawal, suggesting a procedural rather than a specific effect of withdrawal on sensory gating processes. It is also possible that the prepulse can function as a conditioned stimulus to informing the delivery of an aversive event, as the auditory startling-eliciting stimulus. All these findings are indicative of a sensitization of the neural substrates of aversion in diazepam withdrawn animals without concomitant changes on the processing of sensory information.

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Preconditioning and excitability of the human orbicularis oculi reflex as a function of state

Cited by 72 publications

References 26 publications

Attentional Modulation of Prepulse Inhibition: A New Startle Paradigm

Attentional Modulation of Prepulse Inhibition: A New Startle Paradigm

Reflex Modification Audiometry: Assessment of Acoustic Sensory Processing in the Term Neonate

Analysis of the chronic intake of and withdrawal from diazepam on emotional reactivity and sensory information processing in rats

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