title: Sensorimotor gating in manic and mixed episode bipolar disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Few studies have examined acoustic startle sensorimotor gating in bipolar disorder (BPD) despite the fact that patients with BPD have exhibited inhibitory dysfunctions on a variety of early information processing tasks. The present study aimed to expand the current literature through the investigation of electromyographic (EMG) measures of acoustic startle prepulse inhibition (PPI) in manic and mixed episode BPD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen manic and 21 mixed episode BPD patients were compared to 32 healthy controls on acoustic startle measures of PPI using a 120-ms lead interval.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prepulse inhibition did not significantly differ across diagnostic groups (manic, mixed, control), and the presence of psychosis in the patient sample was not significantly related to PPI levels. With respect to startle response characteristics, patients in the mixed phase of the disorder showed prolonged prepulsed startle latency and attenuated responses to both probe-alone and prepulsed probes, though no differences in startle habituation were found across diagnostic groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although PPI deficits were not observed in either BPD sub-group, attenuated probe-alone and prepulsed startle magnitudes and reduced prepulse-induced latency facilitation in the mixed episode group is consistent with evidence that the mixed phase of BPD is associated with a more severe clinical outlook than other stages of the disorder. The absence of attenuated PPI in the patient sample may be due to the low incidence of psychosis in the BPD groups, though further studies are required to systematically assess the effects of symptom factors and clinical phase on sensorimotor gating in BPD.
authors: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors: Christine A
authors: CA
authors: Carroll
authors: Jenifer L
authors: JL
authors: Vohs
authors: Brian F
authors: BF
authors: O'donnell
authors: Anantha
authors: A
authors: Shekhar
authors: William P
authors: WP
authors: Hetrick
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004576:Electromyography / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation; D015995:Prevalence; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology