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Shock sensitization of startle in the developing rat
Author(s) -
Richardson Rick,
Vishney Alex
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(200005)36:4<282::aid-dev3>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - sensitization , startle response , moro reflex , long term potentiation , classical conditioning , stimulus (psychology) , psychology , conditioning , startle reaction , neuroscience , shock (circulatory) , fear potentiated startle , audiology , developmental psychology , fear conditioning , reflex , medicine , cognitive psychology , amygdala , mathematics , statistics , receptor
Rats given a series of shocks exhibit a potentiated startle response to a loud acoustic stimulus compared to nonshocked animals. Experiment 1 showed that this shock sensitization of startle, like conditioned fear potentiation of startle to discrete cues, emerges relatively late in development (i.e., 23 days of age). Although different testing procedures were used in Experiment 2, preweanling rats still failed to exhibit the shock sensitization of startle effect. The failure to observe the shock sensitization of startle effect in preweanling rats was not due to age differences in contextual conditioning produced by the shock treatment (Experiment 3). The results of this study are discussed in terms of (a) the emergence of fear potentiation of startle during development, and (b) the relation between conditioned freezing and startle potentiation. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 36: 282–291, 2000