Impact of stimulus signal‐to‐noise ratio on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle
PsychophysiologyPublished 16 February 2007
Joseph C. Franklin, Nicole A. Moretti, Terry D. Blumenthal
Citations24
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.26
SNIP1.22
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TL;DR
The results showed that signal-to-noise ratio proved to be a more important factor than absolute stimulus intensity in determining the degree of PPI of startle eyeblink response magnitude.
Abstract
Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the human acoustic startle response is reduced in the presence of background noise of a sufficient intensity, possibly due to a reduction in signal-to-noise ratio (prepulse intensity relative to background noise). We examined this hypothesis by varying prepulse intensity and background noise intensity in order to hold three different signal-to-noise ratios constant (5, 15, and 25 dB(A) above background noise intensity). The results showed that signal-to-noise ratio proved to be a more important factor than absolute stimulus intensity in determining the degree of PPI of startle eyeblink response magnitude. Therefore, the effectiveness of a prepulse is determined by prepulse salience, not intensity, and this effectiveness is equivalent across a range of physical intensities.
Keywords
Neuroscience
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