Baseline startle amplitude and prepulse inhibition in Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

Christian Grillon · Charles A. Morgan · Steve M. Southwick · Dennis S. Charney

221 citations0/0 files storedPsychiatry Research

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research Traumatic Brain Injury Research

Abstract

Although an exaggerated startle response is a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), empirical support for elevated baseline startle in PTSD has been weak. The present study investigated the eyeblink component of the acoustic startle reflex and prepulse inhibition (PPI) in 21 unmedicated Vietnam veterans with PTSD and in 17 civilian and 10 combat veteran comparison subjects. Patients with PTSD exhibited normal acoustic startle amplitude, but showed a significant reduction in PPI relative to the civilian subjects. There was only a trend toward a reduction in PPI in the PTSD group compared with the combat control group. The study does not support the hypothesis of exaggerated baseline startle in Vietnam veterans with PTSD but suggests abnormal startle modulation by a prepulse (i.e., PPI). Discrepancies between studies concerning the amplitude of startle in PTSD are discussed.

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References

1970Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 1994DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 1988Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Three studies in reliability and validity.1993A preliminary assessment of sensorimotor gating in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder 1990Physiological evidence of exaggerated startle response in a subgroup of Vietnam veterans with combat-related PTSD 1989Startle modulation in children with posttraumatic stress disorder 1995Fear-potentiated startle in posttraumatic stress disorder 1992Physiologic Responses to Loud Tones in Israeli Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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2002Psychophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder 2008Prospective Prediction of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Using Fear Potentiated Auditory Startle Responses 1998Fear-potentiated startle in adolescent offspring of parents with anxiety disordersf 2007Pharmacologic Reduction of CNS Noradrenergic Activity in PTSD: The Case for Clonidine and Prazosin 2009Linking dimensional models of internalizing psychopathology to neurobiological systems: Affect-modulated startle as an indicator of fear and distress disorders and affiliated traits.

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