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Updated: Aug 22, 2026
Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents
Published on: September 1, 2011
Correlation between cataleptic freezing and prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex in rats
N N Barykina1, T A Alekhina, V F Chugui
1Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, 10 Academician Lavrent'ev Prospekt, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia.
Abstract:
GC rats, bred for a predisposition to cataleptic freezing, were found to show a significant negative correlation between the duration of freezing and the level of prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex. In addition, a group of GC rats characterized by increased "nervousness" also showed a negative correlation between the duration of freezing and the extent of habituation of the startle reflex. These correlations were not seen in Wistar rats. Since decreases in the level of prepulse inhibition and habituation of the startle reflex are regarded as characteristic of schizophrenia, it is suggested that cataleptic freezing in GC rats might be used as a model of schizophrenic pyschopathology.
