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Relationships between startle and cardiovascular reactivity
Author(s) -
GAUTIER CLARA H.,
COOK EDWIN W.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1997.tb02419.x
Subject(s) - psychology , moro reflex , reactivity (psychology) , cognition , heart rate , startle response , cardiovascular health , developmental psychology , audiology , perception , blood pressure , reflex , medicine , neuroscience , disease , alternative medicine , pathology
Although startle and cardiovascular reactivity have been studied extensively, little is known about their relationship. In the present study, we examined cardiovascular responses and affective startle modulation in 112 normotensive individuals varying in self‐reported fearfulness and parental cardiovascular health history. An initial intense noise burst elicited a phasic cardiac acceleration that was larger for fearful individuals. Startle blink responses were larger during aversive than during pleasant relaxing imagery but did not differ with fear group. Cognitive challenge tasks elicited heart rate and blood pressure increases that were unrelated to fearfulness or parental health history. However, greater startle potentiation by aversive imagery predicted larger pressor responses to cognitive challenge, especially among men. The observed relationship between startle and cardiovascular reactivity suggests a common mechanism for their affective modulation.