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Startle intensification during painful heat
Author(s) -
Crombez G.,
Baeyens F.,
Vansteenwegen D.,
Eelen P.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
european journal of pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.305
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1532-2149
pISSN - 1090-3801
DOI - 10.1016/s1090-3801(97)90066-5
Subject(s) - moro reflex , psychology , audiology , reflex , startle reaction , acoustic startle reflex , intensity (physics) , startle response , medicine , neuroscience , physics , quantum mechanics
Applying affective‐motivational theories of emotions to pain presupposes that the immediate emotional reaction to pain can be conceptualized as an action disposition or an urge to escape. According to these emotion theories, an aversive emotional state should potentiate low‐level reflexes with a matching affective tone. In line with this view, this study investigated whether the startle reflex, measured as the EMG peak amplitude of the eyeblink to a white noise burst, was intensified during painful heat. Twenty‐four healthy volunteers were exposed twice to four heat stimuli (43, 45, 47 and 49°C; 5 s duration). As predicted, an intensification of the startle reflex to the noise burst was observed during the high‐intensity stimuli (47 and 49°C) in comparison with the low‐intensity stimuli (43 and 45°C). The startle modulation was effective within a limited temporal window. Five seconds after heat offset, the startle intensification had disappeared.