Sorenson C A, Davis M
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1975 May-Jun;3(3):325-9. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(75)90038-6.
The acoustic startle response was measured in rats after depletion of central catecholamines either chronically (through intraventricular injection of 6-hydroxydopamine) or acutely (through intraperitoneal injections of alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine). Chronic depletion resulted in an augmented startle response which could not be attributed to a failure of habituation or enhanced sensitization, while acute depletion depressed startle amplitude. The results were interpreted as evidence that catecholamines normally exert a facilitatory influence on the startle response and that the enhanced response seen in the chronically lesioned animal reflects the potentiation of the role of catecholamine-containing neurons through the development of denervation supersensitivity. This interpretation is consistent with other observations which suggest that catecholamines play a general role in modulating thresholds to aversive events.
通过慢性（经脑室注射6-羟基多巴胺）或急性（经腹腔注射α-甲基-对-酪氨酸）耗竭中枢儿茶酚胺后，在大鼠中测量了听觉惊吓反应。慢性耗竭导致惊吓反应增强，这不能归因于习惯化失败或敏化增强，而急性耗竭则降低了惊吓幅度。这些结果被解释为证据，表明儿茶酚胺通常对惊吓反应发挥促进作用，并且在慢性损伤动物中看到的增强反应反映了通过去神经超敏反应的发展，含儿茶酚胺神经元作用的增强。这一解释与其他观察结果一致，这些观察结果表明儿茶酚胺在调节对厌恶事件的阈值方面发挥着普遍作用。
