This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Abel, K. Articles by Geyer, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Abel, K. Articles by Geyer, M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Repeated testing of prepulse inhibition and habituation of the startle reflex: a study in healthy human controls

Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Manoj Waikar

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, California, USA

Brenda Pedro

Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

David Hemsley

Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Mark Geyer

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, California, USA

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of repeated testing on prepulse inhibition (PPI) and habituation of the startle reflex. Fifteen healthy control subjects (eight males, mean age 30 years; seven females, mean age 29 years) were tested on three occasions across the same day separated by a minimum of 2 h. An acoustic probe of 40-msec bursts of 116 dB(A) white noise over a continuous background noise of 70 dB(A) was presented binaurally through headphones and the eye-blink component of the startle response was measured taking electromyographic recordings from the right orbicularis oculi. The test session was identical at each time point and consisted of two blocks of 12 randomly mixed trials of four pulse-alone, four 60-msec prepulse and four 120-msec prepulse trials enclosed by two blocks each of six pulse-alone trials. There was huge variation in individual response magnitude that was independent of subsequent PPI in both women and men. Women showed greater PPI in the second half of sessions with the 120-msec prepulse only; but PPI was not altered significantly in either group between sessions across the day. In general, there was good test-retest reliability of PPI especially within trial type. Normal reflex habituation occurred across sessions and this effect was preserved in sessions across the day. Latency of response was significantly reduced in a session by the 60-msec trial type compared to the 120-msec trial type, as previously reported. Our results suggest that measures of PPI and habituation of the startle response are appropriate and reliable for a within-subject, test-retest design.

Key Words: gender • habituation • prepulse inhibition • repeat testing • startle

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 12, No. 4, 330-337 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/026988119801200402


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. I. Turetsky, M. E. Calkins, G. A. Light, A. Olincy, A. D. Radant, and N. R. Swerdlow Neurophysiological Endophenotypes of Schizophrenia: The Viability of Selected Candidate Measures Schizophr Bull, January 1, 2007; 33(1): 69 - 94. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Aasen, L. Kolli, and V. Kumari Sex effects in prepulse inhibition and facilitation of the acoustic startle response: implications for pharmacological and treatment studies J Psychopharmacol, January 1, 2005; 19(1): 39 - 45. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. L. Barrett, R. Bell, D. Watson, and D. J. King Effects of Amisulpride, Risperidone and Chlorpromazine on Auditory and Visual Latent Inhibition, Prepulse Inhibition, Executive Function and Eye Movements in Healthy Volunteers J Psychopharmacol, June 1, 2004; 18(2): 156 - 172. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. M. Abel, S. Jolley, D. R. Hemsley, and M. A. Geyer The Influence of Schizotypy Traits on Prepulse Inhibition in Young Healthy Controls J Psychopharmacol, June 1, 2004; 18(2): 181 - 188. [Abstract] [PDF]