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Ontogeny of control over the acoustic startle reflex by visual prestimulation in the rat
Author(s) -
Parisi Thomas,
Ison James R.
Publication year - 1981
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.420140403
Subject(s) - ontogeny , psychology , acoustic startle reflex , reflex , moro reflex , startle response , audiology , neuroscience , medicine
In Experiment I, rats 13–35 days of age were presented with acoustic startle stimuli in conjunction with light flashes or noise bursts at 4–320 msee lead times. Inhibition of the startle reflex by leading noise bursts was present on Days 13–15, whereas light flashes were not effective until Days 21–23. In Experiment II, 3 intensities of noise and 3 intensities of light preceded the reflex‐eliciting stimuli on Days 16 and 35. All intensities of noise were effective on Day 16, whereas no visual stimuli were. On Day 35, all stimuli were effective. These data reveal that intrinsic visual structures and/or connections between these structures and reflex‐control mechanisms mature relatively late in the rat.