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Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Published on: September 1, 2011

Precues enable multiple response preprogramming: evidence from startle.

Anthony N Carlsen¹, Romeo Chua, Jeffrey J Summers

¹School of Human Kinetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. carlsen@interchange.ubc.ca

Psychophysiology

|February 12, 2009

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This summary is machine-generated.

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Startling acoustic stimuli significantly reduced reaction time (RT) but increased errors in precued choice RT tasks, suggesting over-preparation and multiple response preprogramming.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Human Motor Control
Psychology

Background:

Choice reaction time (RT) tasks reveal response preparation when parts of the response are precued.
Startling acoustic stimuli are known to trigger preprogrammed responses.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the extent of response preprogramming when a startling acoustic stimulus is introduced in a precued choice RT task.
To examine the effect of startling stimuli on the speed and accuracy of motor responses.

Main Methods:

Participants performed a precued wrist flexion/extension task with one to four choice alternatives.
A startling acoustic stimulus (124 dB) or a control stimulus (82 dB) was presented with the visual go signal.

Main Results:

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents

Published on: September 1, 2011

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Published on: July 19, 2017

The Power of Interstimulus Interval for the Assessment of Temporal Processing in Rodents

The Power of Interstimulus Interval for the Assessment of Temporal Processing in Rodents

Published on: April 19, 2019

Startling stimuli significantly reduced reaction time latencies compared to control conditions.
A significant increase in errors was observed under startled conditions.
Errors at short RT latencies often involved multiple movements, indicating preprogramming of response alternatives.

Conclusions:

Startling acoustic stimuli can accelerate RT by triggering preprogrammed responses.
However, this acceleration comes at the cost of increased errors, suggesting over-preprogramming and potential interference between prepared responses.