title: Startle responding in the context of visceral pain.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate affective modulation of eye blink startle by aversive visceral stimulation. Startle blink EMG responses were measured in 31 healthy participants receiving painful, intermittent balloon distentions in the distal esophagus during 4 blocks (positive, negative, neutral or no pictures), and compared with startles during 3 'safe' blocks without esophageal stimulations (positive, negative or neutral emotional pictures). Women showed enhanced startle during blocks with distentions (as compared with 'safe' blocks), both when the balloon was in inflated and deflated states, suggesting that fear and/or expectations may have played a role. Men's startle did not differ between distention and non-distention blocks. In this particular study context affective picture viewing did not further impose any effect on startle eye blink responses. The current results may contribute to a better understanding of emotional reactions to aversive interoceptive stimulation.
authors.affiliation: Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ceunen
authors.affiliation: Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zaman
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Herssens
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Oudenhove
authors.affiliation: Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Katleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bogaerts
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Huynh Giao
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Ly
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Coen
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tack
authors.affiliation: Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan W S
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vlaeyen
authors.affiliation: Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Ilse.VanDiest@ppw.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Diest
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004576:Electromyography; D004947:Esophagus / Q000294:innervation; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D057566:Self Report; D059265:Visceral Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D064232:Visual Analog Scale; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Gender differences; Mechanical esophageal stimulation; Startle; Visceral pain