Light-Enhanced Startle Testing
Objective: Measurement of acoustic startle response amplitude enhancement in the presence of bright light as an unconditioned anxiogenic response, and examination of neuroanatomical substrates involved in light-enhanced versus fear-potentiated startle
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Equipment2
Materials2
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Protocol Steps
Intracranial infusion administration
Immediately before light-enhanced or fear-potentiated startle testing, rats received intracranial infusions of either AMPA receptor antagonist or PBS vehicle control
Note: Infusions were targeted to specific brain regions: basolateral nucleus of the amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala, or bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
View evidence from paper
“Immediately before light-enhanced or fear-potentiated startle testing, rats received intracranial infusions of the AMPA receptor antagonist 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulphamoylbenzo(F)-quinoxaline (3 μg) or PBS”
Light-enhanced startle testing
Measurement of acoustic startle response amplitude in the presence of bright light as an unconditioned anxiogenic stimulus
Note: Light-enhanced startle reflects an unconditioned response to an anxiogenic stimulus
View evidence from paper
“The amplitude of the acoustic startle response is reliably enhanced when elicited in the presence of bright light (light-enhanced startle)”
Fear-potentiated startle testing
Measurement of acoustic startle response amplitude in the presence of cues previously paired with shock
Note: Fear-potentiated startle reflects a conditioned response to a fear-eliciting stimulus
View evidence from paper
“The amplitude of the acoustic startle response is reliably enhanced when elicited in the presence of bright light (light-enhanced startle) or in the presence of cues previously paired with shock (fear-potentiated startle)”