title: Enhanced startle reactions to acoustic stimuli in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Anxiety states induced experimentally or occurring naturally potentiate the startle reflex elicited by sudden sensory stimuli in both animals and human beings. The authors investigated whether patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) show exaggerated startle reactions to acoustic probes, especially during negative-affect-toned stimuli, compared with healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten patients with OCD and 10 age- and sex-matched comparison subjects were shown a series of film clips. Two of the film clips had positive valence, two had negative valence, and two had relatively neutral valence. The subjects' eyeblink startle response was measured in reaction to startle-eliciting stimuli presented three times binaurally during each film clip.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with OCD produced larger startle reflexes and shorter latencies to onset of startle response than the comparison subjects over the entire session.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with OCD were excessively responsive to startle-eliciting stimuli. This effect may be associated with the development or maintenance of OCD.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. v.kumari@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumari
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaviani
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Raven
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Checkley
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology