title: Maturation of prepulse inhibition (PPI) in childhood.
abstract: It is known that sensorimotor gating measured by the prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex (PPI) matures during childhood. Since certain disorders in children, for example, enuresis, show a significant loss in PPI, the PPI as a tool for investigating brainstem reflex control mechanism gains in importance. Therefore, it is crucial to know the natural course of PPI maturation in childhood. A total of 122 healthy children aged from 3-10 years and 10 healthy adults were examined. PPI was initiated by a 120 ms and a 60 ms prepulse and was measured by the EMG of M. orbicularis oculi. For the respective prepulse intervals, the PPI level in each age group increased from 3 to 9 or 10 years and showed a similar course. The findings confirm and extend knowledge about the maturation of PPI during childhood and emphasize the importance of age-dependent standard values when investigating PPI in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. julia.gebhardt@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gebhardt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schulz-Juergensen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eggert
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult