PubMed · 7036083
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M R Jones. 1981. A tutorial on some issues and methods in serial pattern research.. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03204846
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We studied the effects of collision between a voluntary command and the startle response by interrupting a simple visual reaction time task with an acoustic startle. We observed two main effects. First, the reaction time was markedly shortened when the startle was delivered at intervals of 0-75 ms after the 'go' signal. Second, the startle response elicited when the subject's attention was focused onto reacting to the visual 'go' signal involved more muscles and induced larger EMG responses than when the startling stimulus was delivered unexpectedly. Startle response and voluntary commands may share a number of structures along the motor path. Reaction time can be shortened up to the latency of a startle response if the voluntary command is issued a short time after the startling stimulus. Facilitation of the startle responses during motor preparation may be due to the excitability enhancement that occurs in various neural structures along the motor path before the onset of EMG activity.
The aim of this study was to test whether the middle ear muscles (MEM) play a significant role in the phenomenon of sound conditioning in guinea pigs. After inducing a temporary threshold shift by noise exposure (2767 Hz tone, 103 dB SPL, 5 min), the magnitude and duration of loss, as well as the rate of recovery of the amplitude of the distortion product emission was determined at 1.75, 2.2, 2.8, and 3.5 kHz followed for 90 min post-exposure for (1) a sound conditioned group with intact MEM, and (2) a sound conditioned group with paralyzed MEM. Significant differences were not found for any of the distortion product parameters tested. The results suggest that the MEM do not significantly contribute to protection against noise trauma by sound conditioning.
The auditory response of locus coeruleus (LC) neurones evoked by novel tones was investigated in anaesthetized and awake rats. Recording the single unit activity of LC neurones, responses to auditory stimuli are found under anaesthesia as well as in the awake animal. There are three types of LC responses to tone: first and by far the most frequent, a burst of several spikes at onset of the tone; second, a burst at tone offset and lastly, a total inhibition to the tone. All responses present a rapid habituation after the first few presentations of the stimulus. The results support the view that the LC plays a role in mediating responses to environmental changes.