Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents
Published on: September 1, 2011
Reflexes Inhibited by a Prepulse: Intensity of Startle Stimulus and Prepulse Across Onset Intervals
Ryoji Nishiyama1, Hiroyuki Iso2
1Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan ryoji.nishiyama@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Prepulse inhibition refers to the inhibition of the startle reflexes by a weak stimulus (prepulse) that precedes a strong startle stimulus (pulse). Previous findings suggest that prepulse intensity affects prepulse inhibition amplitude and that prepulse inhibition amplitudes vary across onset intervals between the prepulse and pulse. However, evidence regarding the effect of startle stimulus intensity is still inconclusive, especially due to variations between prepulse inhibition scores calculated by using percentage-type and difference-type formulas. Moreover, the combined effect of startle stimulus and prepulse intensities across onset intervals remains poorly understood. The present study investigated the combined effect as well as the influence of startle response amplitudes on the formulae used for the calculation. The results suggest that startle stimulus intensity could potentially affect results of percentage-type formulae for calculating prepulse inhibition over a wide range of lead intervals. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that a combination of strong startle stimulus intensities and weak prepulse intensities could not induce prepulse inhibition at long onset intervals (1000 ms and 2000 ms).
Related Concept Videos
Reflex Activity
A reflex exam is a diagnostic procedure performed by a healthcare professional to evaluate the functionality of a patient's...
Somatic Spinal Reflexes
One of the most well-known somatic spinal reflexes is the stretch reflex, which is activated by the sudden stretching of a muscle. This reflex involves the activation of specialized sensory receptors called muscle spindles, which are located in the muscle tissue and detect changes in the length and speed of muscle contractions. When a muscle is suddenly...
Depolarizing Blockers: Mechanism of Action
Succinylcholine is the most commonly used depolarizing blocker. Chemically, it constitutes two molecules of acetylcholine joined together by an acetate methyl group. They act on the receptors in the same way as acetylcholine. Because...
Excitatory and Inhibitory Effects of Neurotransmitters
Integration of Synaptic Events
Nondepolarizing (Competitive) Neuromuscular Blockers: Pharmacological Actions
Although all competitive neuromuscular blockers are designed...

