STARTLE REACTION: MODIFICATION BY BACKGROUND ACOUSTIC  STIMULATION.
Six rats were exposed to a sequence of gunshot-like acoustical bursts during silence, during steady noise, and during pulsed noise. Assessment of their startle reactions to the bursts revealed that a background of steady noise enhanced the response, whereas a background of pulsed noise produced suppression of response. It is hypothesized that pulsed noise causes a relative refractory state in the mechanisms responsible for startle and that steady noise may enhance startle by masking uncontrolled punctiform acoustic stimuli.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise; D051381:Rats; D012018:Reflex; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D012106:Research; D013312:Stress, Physiological
BEHAVIOR, ANIMAL; EXPERIMENTAL LAB STUDY; NOISE; RATS; REFLEX; STRESS