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Journal of Anxiety Disorders Jan 2022The clinical presentation of anxiety may differ between Hispanics/Latinx (H/L) and non-H/L, although findings on ethnic differences in self-reported anxiety symptoms...
The clinical presentation of anxiety may differ between Hispanics/Latinx (H/L) and non-H/L, although findings on ethnic differences in self-reported anxiety symptoms have been mixed. Fewer studies have focused on ethnic differences in quick and relatively automatic laboratory-assessed indicators of anxiety symptoms, which have the potential to be more objective indicators than self-report. Therefore, the present study examined ethnic differences in two laboratory-assessed indicators of threat sensitivity (an important transdiagnostic mechanism of anxiety): attentional bias to threat and electromyography startle reactivity to threat. White H/L (n = 117) and White non-H/L (n = 168) adults who were matched on demographics and lifetime psychopathology (including anxiety) completed a dot-probe task to assess attentional bias to threat and the No-Predictable-Unpredictable threat (NPU) task to assess startle reactivity to threat. Results indicated that H/L displayed less Slow Orientation (β = -0.27, p = 0.032, R = 0.02), and increased Slow Disengagement (β = 0.31, p = 0.016, R = 0.02) compared to non-H/L. H/L exhibited blunted overall startle compared to non-H/L (β = -0.30, p = 0.014, R = 0.02), but groups did not differ in startle reactivity to either predictable or unpredictable threat. In summary, H/L and non-H/L may differ in their experience and presentation of anxiety symptoms and such differences may vary across indicators of sensitivity to threat.
Topics: Adult; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Fear; Humans; Reflex, Startle; Self Report
PubMed: 34864540
DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102508 -
Current Psychiatry Reports May 2018Neuroactive steroid hormones, such as estradiol and progesterone, likely play a role in the pathophysiology of female-specific psychiatric disorders such as premenstrual... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Neuroactive steroid hormones, such as estradiol and progesterone, likely play a role in the pathophysiology of female-specific psychiatric disorders such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postpartum depression and may contribute to the marked sex differences observed in the incidence and presentation of affective disorders. However, few tools are available to study the precise contributions of these neuroactive steroids (NSs). In this review, we propose that the acoustic startle response (ASR), an objective measure of an organism's response to an emotional context or stressor, is sensitive to NSs. As such, the ASR represents a unique translational tool that may help to elucidate the contribution of NSs to sex differences in psychiatric disorders.
RECENT FINDINGS
Findings suggest that anxiety-potentiated startle (APS) and prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI) are the most robust ASR paradigms for assessing contribution of NSs to affective disorders, while affective startle response modulation (ASRM) appears less diagnostic of sex or menstrual cycle (MC) effects. However, few studies have appropriately used ASR to test a priori hypotheses about sex or MC differences. We recommend that ASR studies account for sex as a biological variable (SABV) and hormonal status to further knowledge of NS contribution to affective disorders.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Mood Disorders; Neurotransmitter Agents; Psychophysiology; Reflex, Startle; Sex Characteristics; Sex Factors; Steroids
PubMed: 29777410
DOI: 10.1007/s11920-018-0906-y -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jun 2018SALM1 (SALM (synaptic adhesion-like molecule), also known as LRFN2 (leucine rich repeat and fibronectin type III domain containing), is a postsynaptic density...
SALM1 (SALM (synaptic adhesion-like molecule), also known as LRFN2 (leucine rich repeat and fibronectin type III domain containing), is a postsynaptic density (PSD)-95-interacting synaptic adhesion molecule implicated in the regulation of NMDA receptor (NMDAR) clustering largely based on data, although its functions remain unclear. Here, we found that mice lacking SALM1/LRFN2 ( mice) show a normal density of excitatory synapses but altered excitatory synaptic function, including enhanced NMDAR-dependent synaptic transmission but suppressed NMDAR-dependent synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal CA1 region. Unexpectedly, SALM1 expression was detected in both glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons and CA1 pyramidal neurons showed decreases in the density of inhibitory synapses and the frequency of spontaneous inhibitory synaptic transmission. Behaviorally, ultrasonic vocalization was suppressed in pups separated from their mothers and acoustic startle was enhanced, but locomotion, anxiety-like behavior, social interaction, repetitive behaviors, and learning and memory were largely normal in adult male mice. These results suggest that SALM1/LRFN2 regulates excitatory synapse function, inhibitory synapse development, and social communication and startle behaviors in mice. Synaptic adhesion molecules regulate synapse development and function, which govern neural circuit and brain functions. The SALM/LRFN (synaptic adhesion-like molecule/leucine rich repeat and fibronectin type III domain containing) family of synaptic adhesion proteins consists of five known members for which the functions are largely unknown. Here, we characterized mice lacking SALM1/LRFN2 (SALM1 KO) known to associate with NMDA receptors (NMDARs) and found that these mice showed altered NMDAR-dependent synaptic transmission and plasticity, as expected, but unexpectedly also exhibited suppressed inhibitory synapse development and synaptic transmission. Behaviorally, SALM1 KO pups showed suppressed ultrasonic vocalization upon separation from their mothers and SALM1 KO adults showed enhanced responses to loud acoustic stimuli. These results suggest that SALM1/LRFN2 regulates excitatory synapse function, inhibitory synapse development, social communication, and acoustic startle behavior.
Topics: Animals; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Neuronal Plasticity; Pyramidal Cells; Reflex, Startle; Social Behavior; Synapses; Synaptic Transmission; Vocalization, Animal
PubMed: 29798891
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3321-17.2018 -
Physiology & Behavior Aug 2020We investigated the perception of two mechanoreceptive modalities alone and in combination: main effects and interaction between auditory and somatosensory stimulation...
We investigated the perception of two mechanoreceptive modalities alone and in combination: main effects and interaction between auditory and somatosensory stimulation in mice. Fifteen C57BL/6J mice between the ages of 1 and 6 months were tested three times each. Experimental design roughly followed published procedures using pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response, except pre-pulses included vibration of the test chamber as well as soft sounds. Auditory pre-pulses were 80 dB broadband noises of 4, 9, 25, or 45 ms duration. Vibrations were of the same duration but of different frequencies (500, 460, 360, and 220 Hz). Pre-pulse inhibition increased with duration of the auditory pre-pulses, as expected. There was significant PPI to some but not all vibrotactile pre-pulses. Multimodal PPI was approximately additive (no significant auditory-by-somatosensory interaction). PPI increased more with age to somatosensory than to auditory pre-pulses. Future studies of multi-modal psychophysics in various mouse mutants could lend support to more mechanistic studies of neural specificity and possibly autism, tinnitus, and PTSD.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Animals; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neural Inhibition; Prepulse Inhibition; Reflex, Startle
PubMed: 32360813
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112901 -
Annals of Biomedical Engineering Sep 2021Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and whiplash-associated disorder are the most common head and neck injuries and result from a sudden head or body acceleration. The...
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and whiplash-associated disorder are the most common head and neck injuries and result from a sudden head or body acceleration. The head and neck injury potential is correlated with the awareness, level of muscle activation, and posture changes at the time of the perturbation. Environmental acoustic stimuli or a warning system can influence muscle activation and posture during a head perturbation. In this study, different acoustic stimuli, including Non-Directional, Directional, and Startle, were provided 1000 ms before a head impact, and the amplitude and timing of cervical muscle electromyographic (EMG) data were characterized based on the type of warning. The startle warning resulted in 49% faster and 80% greater EMG amplitude compared to the Directional and Non-Directional warnings after warning and before the impact. The post-impact peak EMG amplitudes in Unwarned trials were lower by 18 and 21% in the retraction and rebound muscle groups, respectively, compared to any of the warned conditions. When there was no warning before the impact, the retraction and rebound muscle groups also reached their maximum activation 38 and 54 ms sooner, respectively, compared to the warned trials. Based on these results, the intensity and complexity of information that a warning sound carries change the muscle response before and after a head impact and has implications for injury potential.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; Electromyography; Head Movements; Humans; Male; Neck Muscles; Posture; Reflex, Startle; Young Adult
PubMed: 33768412
DOI: 10.1007/s10439-021-02757-4 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2020(1) Background: Acute acoustic (sound) stimulus prompts a state of defensive motivation in which unconscious muscle responses are markedly enhanced in humans. The...
(1) Background: Acute acoustic (sound) stimulus prompts a state of defensive motivation in which unconscious muscle responses are markedly enhanced in humans. The orbicularis oculi (OO) of the eye is an easily accessed muscle common for acoustic startle reaction/response/reflex (ASR) investigations and is the muscle of interest in this study. Although the ASR can provide insights about numerous clinical conditions, existing methodologies (Electromyogram, EMG) limit the usability of the method in real clinical conditions. (2) Objective: With EMG-free muscle recording in mind, our primary aim was to identify and investigate potential correlations in the responses of individual and cooperative OO muscles to various acoustic stimuli using a mobile and wire-free system. Our secondary aim was to investigate potential altered responses to high and also relatively low intensity acoustics at different frequencies in both sitting and standing positions through the use of biaural sound induction and video diagnostic techniques and software. (3) Methods: This study used a mobile-phone acoustic startle response monitoring system application to collect blink amplitude and velocity data on healthy males, aged 18-28 community cohorts during ( = 30) in both sitting and standing postures. The iPhone X application delivers specific sound parameters and detects blinking responses to acoustic stimulus (in millisecond resolution) to study the responses of the blinking reflex to acoustic sounds in standing and sitting positions by using multiple acoustic test sets of different frequencies and amplitudes introduced as acute sound stimuli (<0.5 s). The single acoustic battery of 15 pure-square wave sounds consisted of frequencies and amplitudes between 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz scales using 65, 90, and 105 dB (e.g., 3000 Hz_90 dB). (4) Results: Results show that there was a synchronization of amplitude and velocity between both eyes to all acoustic startles. Significant differences ( = 0.01) in blinking reaction time between sitting vs. standing at the high intensity (105 dB) 500 Hz acoustic test set was discovered. Interestingly, a highly significant difference ( < 0.001) in response times between test sets 500 Hz_105 dB and 4000 Hz_105 dB was identified. (5) Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first mobile phone-based acoustic battery used to detect and report significant ASR responses to specific frequencies and amplitudes of sound stimulus with corresponding sitting and standing conditions. The results from this experiment indicate the potential significance of using the specific frequency, amplitude, and postural conditions (as never before identified) which can open new horizons for ASR to be used for diagnosis and monitoring in numerous clinical and remote or isolated conditions.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Adolescent; Adult; Blinking; Cell Phone; Electromyography; Humans; Male; Posture; Reflex, Startle; Young Adult
PubMed: 33105890
DOI: 10.3390/s20215996 -
Biological Psychiatry. Cognitive... Jul 2018The National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria initiative encourages a search for dimensional biological measures of psychopathology unconstrained by...
BACKGROUND
The National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria initiative encourages a search for dimensional biological measures of psychopathology unconstrained by current diagnostic categories. Consistent with this aim, the presented research studies a large sample of anxiety and mood disorder patients, assessing differences in principal diagnoses and comorbidity patterns, clinicians' ratings, and questionnaire measures of negative affect and life dysfunction as they relate to a potential brain marker of pathology: the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) elicited by a startle-evoking stimulus.
METHODS
Patients seeking evaluation or treatment for anxiety and mood disorders (N = 208) participated in two tasks at the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL): 1) imagining emotional and neutral events and 2) viewing emotional and neutral pictures while acoustic startle probes were presented and the ERP was recorded. For a comparison patient group (N = 120), startle probes were administered and ERPs recorded at the University of Greifswald (Greifswald, Germany) while performing the same imagery task.
RESULTS
Reduced positive amplitude of a centroparietal startle-evoked ERP (156-352 ms after onset) significantly predicted higher questionnaire scores of anxiety/depression, reports of increased life dysfunction, greater comorbidity, and clinician ratings of heightened severity and poorer prognosis. The effect was general across principal diagnoses, found for both the Florida and German samples, and consistent in pattern despite differences in the tasks administered.
CONCLUSIONS
The startle-evoked ERP reliably predicts severity and breadth of psychopathology, independent of task context. It is a potential significant contributor to a needed array of biological measures that might improve classification of anxiety and mood disorders.
Topics: Adult; Anxiety Disorders; Auditory Perception; Cerebral Cortex; Electroencephalography; Evoked Potentials; Female; Humans; Male; Mood Disorders; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Reflex, Startle; Severity of Illness Index
PubMed: 30047478
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.07.006 -
Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology &... Mar 2019The Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) strain has been suggested as an animal model of schizophrenia, considering that adult SHRs display behavioral abnormalities that...
The Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) strain has been suggested as an animal model of schizophrenia, considering that adult SHRs display behavioral abnormalities that mimic the cognitive, psychotic and negative symptoms of the disease and are characteristic of its animal models. SHRs display: (I) deficits in fear conditioning and latent inhibition (modeling cognitive impairments), (II) deficit in prepulse inhibition of startle reflex (reflecting a deficit in sensorimotor gating, and associated with psychotic symptoms), (III) diminished social behavior (modeling negative symptoms) and (IV) hyperlocomotion (modeling the hyperactivity of the dopaminergic mesolimbic system/ psychotic symptoms). These behavioral abnormalities are reversed specifically by the administration of antipsychotic drugs. Here, we performed a behavioral characterization of young (27-50 days old) SHRs in order to investigate potential early behavioral abnormalities resembling the prodromal phase of schizophrenia. When compared to Wistar rats, young SHRs did not display hyperlocomotion or PPI deficit, but exhibited diminished social interaction and impaired fear conditioning and latent inhibition. These findings are in accordance with the clinical course of schizophrenia: manifestation of social and cognitive impairments and absence of full-blown psychotic symptoms in the prodromal phase. The present data reinforce the SHR strain as a model of schizophrenia, expanding its validity to the prodromal phase of the disorder.
Topics: Animals; Antipsychotic Agents; Behavior, Animal; Disease Models, Animal; Male; Motor Activity; Prepulse Inhibition; Prodromal Symptoms; Rats, Inbred SHR; Rats, Wistar; Reflex, Startle; Schizophrenia
PubMed: 30500412
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.11.020 -
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Feb 2017There is growing evidence that heightened sensitivity to unpredictability is a core mechanism of anxiety disorders. In adults, multiple anxiety disorders have been...
There is growing evidence that heightened sensitivity to unpredictability is a core mechanism of anxiety disorders. In adults, multiple anxiety disorders have been associated with a heightened startle reflex in anticipation of unpredictable threat. Child and adolescent anxiety has been linked to an increased startle reflex across baseline, safety, and threat conditions. However, it is unclear whether anxiety in youth is related to the startle reflex as a function of threat predictability. In a sample of 90 8 to 14 year-old girls, the present study examined the association between anxiety symptom dimensions and startle potentiation during a no, predictable, and unpredictable threat task. Depression symptom dimensions were also examined given their high comorbidity with anxiety and mixed relationship with the startle reflex and sensitivity to unpredictability. To assess current symptoms, participants completed the self-report Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and Children's Depression Inventory. Results indicated that social phobia symptoms were associated with heightened startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat and attenuated startle potentiation in anticipation of predictable threat. Negative mood and negative self-esteem symptoms were associated with attenuated and heightened startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat, respectively. All results remained significant after controlling for the other symptom dimensions. The present study provides initial evidence that anxiety and depression symptom dimensions demonstrate unique associations with the startle reflex in anticipation of unpredictable threat in children and adolescents.
Topics: Adolescent; Anticipation, Psychological; Anxiety; Child; Depression; Female; Humans; Reflex, Startle
PubMed: 27224989
DOI: 10.1007/s10802-016-0169-1 -
The Journal of Physiology Jan 2017Using high-speed videos time-locked with whole-animal electrical recordings, simultaneous measurement of behavioural kinematics and field potential parameters of C-start...
KEY POINTS
Using high-speed videos time-locked with whole-animal electrical recordings, simultaneous measurement of behavioural kinematics and field potential parameters of C-start startle responses allowed for discrimination between short-latency and long-latency C-starts (SLCs vs. LLCs) in larval zebrafish. Apart from their latencies, SLC kinematics and SLC field potential parameters were intensity independent. Increasing stimulus intensity increased the probability of evoking an SLC and decreased mean SLC latencies while increasing their precision; subtraction of field potential latencies from SLC latencies revealed a fixed time delay between the two measurements that was intensity independent. The latency and the precision in the latency of the SLC field potentials were linearly correlated to the latencies and precision of the first evoked action potentials (spikes) in hair-cell afferent neurons of the lateral line. Together, these findings indicate that first spike latency (FSL) is a fast encoding mechanism that can serve to precisely initiate startle responses when speed is critical for survival.
ABSTRACT
Vertebrates rely on fast sensory encoding for rapid and precise initiation of startle responses. In afferent sensory neurons, trains of action potentials (spikes) encode stimulus intensity within the onset time of the first evoked spike (first spike latency; FSL) and the number of evoked spikes. For speed of initiation of startle responses, FSL would be the more advantageous mechanism to encode the intensity of a threat. However, the intensity dependence of FSL and spike number and whether either determines the precision of startle response initiation is not known. Here, we examined short-latency startle responses (SLCs) in larval zebrafish and tested the hypothesis that first spike latencies and their precision (jitter) determine the onset time and precision of SLCs. We evoked startle responses via activation of Channelrhodopsin (ChR2) expressed in ear and lateral line hair cells and acquired high-speed videos of head-fixed larvae while simultaneously recording underlying field potentials. This method allowed for discrimination between primary SLCs and less frequent, long-latency startle responses (LLCs). Quantification of SLC kinematics and field potential parameters revealed that, apart from their latencies, they were intensity independent. We found that increasing stimulus intensity decreased SLC latencies while increasing their precision, which was significantly correlated with corresponding changes in field potential latencies and their precision. Single afferent neuron recordings from the lateral line revealed a similar intensity-dependent decrease in first spike latencies and their jitter, which could account for the intensity-dependent changes in timing and precision of startle response latencies.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Behavior, Animal; Female; Hair Cells, Auditory; Larva; Male; Neurons, Afferent; Reaction Time; Reflex, Startle; Rhodopsin; Zebrafish
PubMed: 27228964
DOI: 10.1113/JP272466