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Affective startle modulation in anticipation and perception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2001

DEAN SABATINELLI ,
MARGARET M. BRADLEY  and
PETER J. LANG
DEAN SABATINELLI
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
MARGARET M. BRADLEY
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
PETER J. LANG
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
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Abstract

Startle modulation was investigated as participants first anticipated and then viewed affective pictures in order to determine whether affective modulation of the startle reflex is similar in these different task contexts. During a 6-s anticipation period, a neutral light cue signaled whether the upcoming picture would portray snakes, erotica, or household objects; at the end of the anticipatory period, a picture in the signaled category was viewed for 6 s. Male participants highly fearful of snakes were recruited to maximize emotional arousal during anticipation and perception. Results indicated that the startle reflex was potentiated when anticipating either unpleasant (phobic) or pleasant (erotic) pictures, compared to neutral stimuli, whereas during perception, reflexes were potentiated when viewing unpleasant stimuli, and reduced when viewing pleasant pictures. The startle reflex is modulated by hedonic valence in picture perception, and by emotional arousal in a task context involving picture anticipation.

Keywords

EmotionAnticipationStartle reflexAffective pictures
Type
BRIEF REPORT
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , July 2001 , pp. 719 - 722
Copyright
2001 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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