title: Effect of stress and attention on startle response and prepulse inhibition.
abstract: The startle reflex magnitude can be modulated when a weak stimulus is presented before the onset of the startle stimulus, a phenomenon termed prepulse inhibition (PPI). Previous research has demonstrated that emotional processes can modulate PPI and startle intensity, but the available evidence is inconclusive. In order to obtain additional evidence in this domain, we conducted two experiments intended to analyze the effect of induced stress and attentional load on PPI and startle magnitude. Specifically, in Experiment 1 we used a between subject strategy to evaluate the effect on startle response and PPI magnitude of performing a difficult task intended to induce stress in the participants, as compared to a group exposed to a control task. In Experiment 2 we evaluated the effect of diverting attention from the acoustic stimulus on startle and PPI intensity. The results seem to indicate that induced stress can reduce PPI, and that startle reflex intensity is reduced when attention is directed away from the auditory stimulus that induces the reflex.
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Experimental Psychology, Seville University, Spain. Electronic address: delacasa@us.es.
authors.forename: Luis Gonzalo
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: De la Casa
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Experimental Psychology, Seville University, Spain.
authors.forename: Auxiliadora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mena
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Experimental Psychology, Seville University, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Salas
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065808:Prepulse Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Prepulse inhibition; Startle; Stress