Acoustic startle eyeblink response after acute exercise

The acoustic startle eyeblink response (ASER) is a useful probe for investigating central nervous system activity associated with emotional responses to aversive and appetitive stimuli. Though the ASER is sensitive to change in emotional arousal, the effect of acute physical exertion on ASER has not been reported. We examined changes in ASER amplitude and latency in 26 healthy young men (24+/-5 yr) after 20 min of cycling at light and hard intensities (40% and 75% VO2peak) and after 20 min of quiet rest. Mixed model ANCOVA, controlling precondition scores, indicated no effects for ASER amplitude or latency in either sedentary or active participants (p>.10). Our findings indicate that possible effects of acute exercise on potentiated startle or ASER responses elicited by positive or negative foreground stimuli should not be expected to be confounded by an altered baseline acoustic startle eyeblink response when measured in healthy young men.