title: Sex differences in sensorimotor gating of the human startle reflex: all smoke?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A recent report described sex differences in the effects of nicotine use and withdrawal on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI), but no sex differences in PPI in non-smokers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether previously reported male>female acoustic PPI reflect sex differences in smoking effects on PPI, rather than simple sex differences in the regulation of PPI. A retrospective analyses of >600 carefully screened normals tested over the past 12 years was completed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Male>female acoustic PPI was detected in analyses that included: 1) all subjects; or 2) self-declared non-smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sex differences in PPI cannot be accounted for by smoking history, because they are present across a large sample of non-smoking normal controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804, USA. nswerdlow@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Swerdlow
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Geyer
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sprock
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Auerbach
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cadenhead
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Braff
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*