Prepulse Inhibition of the Acoustic Startle Reflex in High Functioning Autism

Prepulse Inhibition of the Acoustic Startle Reflex in High Functioning Autism

BACKGROUND High functioning autism is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication as well as repetitive and restrictive behavior while intelligence and general cognitive functioning are preserved. According to the weak central coherence account, individuals with autism tend to process information detail-focused at the expense of global f...

Prepulse Inhibition of the Acoustic Startle Reflex: Comparing Low and High Trait Anxious Individuals

Lesions of the paraventricular thalamic nucleus attenuates prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex.

The paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) is a midline nucleus with strong connections to cortical and subcortical brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, nucleus accumbens and hippocampus and receives strong projections from brain stem nuclei. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is mediated and modulated by complex cortical and subcortical networks that are yet to be fully identified in ...

Stability of the acoustic startle reflex, prepulse inhibition, and habituation in schizophrenia.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex has been proposed as a neurophysiological measure of sensorimotor gating. There is high test-retest reliability of both startle magnitude and PPI in non-psychiatric subjects. The present study examined the stability of the acoustic startle reflex and its modulation in patients with schizophrenia. Startle measurements were performed in 19 ...

Muscarinic cholinergic modulation of prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonists and agonists on prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex in rats. The muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine (0.03-1.0 mg/kg) produced a significant dose-dependent decrease in PPI without affecting startle amplitude. In contrast, N-methyl scopolamine, the quaternary a...