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Lateralized startle probes in the study of emotion
M M Bradley1, B N Cuthbert, P J Lang
1NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610-0165, USA.
Psychophysiology
|March 1, 1996
Summary
Affective stimuli significantly modulated startle reflex magnitude for left-ear acoustic probes but not right-ear probes. This pattern persisted across blocked and mixed presentation methods in two experiments.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Affective stimuli can modulate physiological responses like the startle reflex.
- Previous research indicated hemispheric differences in affective processing of auditory stimuli.
Purpose of the Study:
- To further investigate affective modulation of the startle reflex using monaural acoustic probes.
- To examine if presentation method (blocked vs. mixed) influences this modulation.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using acoustic probes presented to either the left or right ear.
- Affective stimuli (pleasant/unpleasant) were used to elicit startle reflexes.
- Experiment 1 replicated prior methods; Experiment 2 used a mixed presentation design.
Main Results:
- Significant affective modulation of the startle reflex was consistently observed for left-ear probes.
- Affective modulation was weak and unreliable for right-ear probes in both experiments.
- This pattern held true for both blocked and mixed presentation formats.
Conclusions:
- The findings support a lateralized effect of affect on the startle reflex, with greater modulation observed for left-hemisphere processing.
- Presentation format does not appear to alter this lateralized pattern of affective modulation.