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Development of the acoustic startle response in the rat: Ontogenetic changes in the magnitude of inhibition by prepulse stimulation
Author(s) -
Parisi T.,
Ison James R.
Publication year - 1979
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/dev.420120305
Subject(s) - prepulse inhibition , ontogeny , stimulation , acoustic startle reflex , stimulus (psychology) , startle response , reflex , moro reflex , psychology , startle reaction , audiology , neuroscience , developmental psychology , biology , endocrinology , medicine , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , schizophrenia (object oriented programming)
Three experiments examined the development of the acoustic startle reflex and its modification by a preliminary stimulus in the infant rat during the 2nd and 3rd postnatal weeks. The 1st experiment employed a white noise S 1 (20 msec, 70 dB), the 2nd a cutaneous S 1 (.5 msec, .5 mA and 1.0 mA shock), and the 3rd identical S 1 ‐S 2 pairs (20 msec, 10 kHz, 110 dB tones). The results demonstrate a similar maturation of the prepulse modification pattern over days in the 3 experiments, evidenced mainly in the growth of inhibition. The findings indicate peripheral and central mechanisms that are maturing during the period of life under observation and that contribute to the developmental patterns of modification.