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Startle potentiation in aversive anticipation: Evidence for state but not trait effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2002

JACK B. NITSCHKE ,
CHRISTINE L. LARSON ,
MARIAN J. SMOLLER ,
SARAH D. NAVIN ,
ADRIAN J.C. PEDERSON ,
DANTE RUFFALO ,
KRISTEN L. MACKIEWICZ ,
SHANNON M. GRAY ,
ELISE VICTOR  and
RICHARD J. DAVIDSON
JACK B. NITSCHKE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
CHRISTINE L. LARSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
MARIAN J. SMOLLER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
SARAH D. NAVIN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
ADRIAN J.C. PEDERSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
DANTE RUFFALO
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
KRISTEN L. MACKIEWICZ
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
SHANNON M. GRAY
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
ELISE VICTOR
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
RICHARD J. DAVIDSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Abstract

The present study was undertaken to determine whether aversiveness contributes to startle potentiation in anticipation of affective pictures above and beyond the effects of emotional arousal. Further, participants high in trait anxious apprehension, which is characterized by worry about the future, were expected to show especially pronounced anticipatory startle responses. Startle blink reflex was measured during warning stimuli that predicted the valence of ensuing aversive/unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral pictures. Startle magnitude was larger in anticipation of aversive than of pleasant pictures and smallest in anticipation of neutral pictures. Enhanced startle potentiation was not found in anxious apprehension subjects. These data suggest that the aversive nature of stimuli contribute to the potentiation of startle above and beyond the effects of emotional arousal, which may be a universal phenomenon not modulated by individual differences.

Keywords

AnticipationStartle reflexAnticipatory anxietyAnxious apprehensionEmotion
Type
BRIEF REPORT
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , March 2002 , pp. 254 - 258
Copyright
2002 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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