Communalities and differences in fear potentiation between cardiac defense and eyeblink startle
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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
María B Sánchez1, Pedro Guerra, Miguel A Muñoz
1Department of Personality, University of Granada, Campus La Cartuja s/n., Granada, Spain.
Abstract:
This study examines similarities and differences in fear potentiation between two protective reflexes: cardiac defense and eyeblink startle. Women reporting intense fear of animals but low fear of blood or intense fear of blood but low fear of animals viewed pictures depicting blood or the feared animal for 6 s in 2 separate trials in counterbalanced order. An intense burst of white noise, able to elicit both a cardiac defense response and a reflexive startle blink, was presented 3.5 s after picture onset. Both cardiac and blink responses were potentiated when highly fearful individuals viewed fearful pictures. However, differences appeared concerning picture order. This pattern of results indicates communalities and differences among protective reflexes that are relevant for understanding the dynamics of emotional reflex modulation.
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