title: Winter is coming: Seasonality and the acoustic startle reflex.
abstract: Circannual rhythms and seasonality have long been in the interest of research. In humans, seasonal changes in mood have been extensively investigated since a substantial part of the population experiences worsening of mood during winter. Questions remain regarding accompanying physiological phenomena. We report seasonal effects on the acoustic startle response in a cross-sectional (n=124) and a longitudinal sample (n=23). Startle magnitudes were larger in winter (sample 1: p=0.026; sample 2: p=0.010) compared to summer months. Although the findings need to be replicated they may have implications regarding the timing of startle experiments.
authors.affiliation: Personality and Individual Differences, Institute of Psychology I, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: diana.armbruster@tu-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Armbruster
authors.affiliation: Personality and Individual Differences, Institute of Psychology I, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brocke
authors.affiliation: Personality and Individual Differences, Institute of Psychology I, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strobel
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acoustic startle reflex; SPAQ; Season; Seasonality