Altered affective modulation of the startle reflex in alcoholics with antisocial personality disorder.
BACKGROUND
Individual differences in neural circuitry that regulate emotional reactivity may be associated with alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), a common comorbid condition. The emotion-modulated startle reflex was used to investigate emotional reactivity among alcohol-dependent (AD) men with and without ASPD.


METHODS
Sixty-two men were tested: (1) AD (n = 24), (2) AD-ASPD (n = 17), and (3) non-AD, non-ASPD controls (n = 21). Participants completed self-report instruments and clinical interviews and had eye-blink electromyograms measured in response to acoustic startle probes while viewing color photographs rated as affectively pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant.


RESULTS
Startle blink magnitudes were larger during unpleasant as compared with pleasant slides for control and AD groups, resulting in significant linear trend effects (p < 0.001) and nonsignificant quadratic trend effects. In contrast, AD-ASPD did not show a significant difference in blink magnitude during unpleasant and pleasant slides and did not show a significant linear valence trend or quadratic trend effect (p > 0.6). Subjective valence and arousal ratings of the photographs were similar across groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Adult male alcoholics with ASPD have abnormal emotional responsiveness to both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli relative to alcoholics without ASPD and to controls.
Miranda
Robert
R
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, USA. robert_miranda_jr@brown.edu
Meyerson
Lori A
LA
Myers
Ryan R
RR
Lovallo
William R
WR
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*