Effects of anxiolytic treatment on potentiated startle during aversive image anticipation
Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 07/11/2012
Clinical Article
Acheson DT et al. – The data suggest that potentiated startle in response to anticipation of aversive images is not sensitive to anxiolytic treatments in a healthy population, limiting its use as a predictive model of anxiolytic activity. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Methods- This study examined the effects of alprazolam and pregabalin treatment on potentiated startle during affective image anticipation.
- There was an effect of anticipation type (negative versus neutral versus positive) on startle reactivity and subjective ratings, suggesting that the task was effective in assaying negative anticipatory arousal.
- Both treatments significantly reduced overall startle magnitude.
- However, neither treatment specifically affected potentiated startle during aversive anticipation.
