Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2010 Nov;31(11):1675-85. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20965.
The startle reflex provides a unique tool for the investigation of sensorimotor gating and information processing. Simultaneous EMG-fMRI acquisition (i.e., online stimulation and recording in the MR environment) allows for the quantitative assessment of the neuronal correlates of the startle reflex and its modulations on a single trial level. This serves as the backbone for a startle response informed fMRI analysis, which is fed by data acquired in the same brain at the same time. We here present the first MR study using a single trial approach with simultaneous acquired EMG and fMRI data on the human startle response in 15 healthy young men. It investigates the neural correlates for isolated air puff startle pulses (PA), prepulse-pulse inhibition (PPI), and prepulse facilitation (PPF). We identified a common core network engaged by all three conditions (PA, PPI, and PPF), consisting of bilateral primary and secondary somatosensory cortices, right insula, right thalamus, right temporal pole, middle cingulate cortex, and cerebellum. The cerebellar vermis exhibits distinct activation patterns between the startle modifications. It is differentially activated with the highest amplitude for PPF, a lower activation for PA, and lowest for PPI. The orbital frontal cortex exhibits a differential activation pattern, not for the type of startle response but for the amplitude modification. For pulse alone it is close to zero; for PPI it is activated. This is in contrast to PPF where it shows deactivation. In addition, the thalamus, the cerebellum, and the anterior cingulate cortex add to the modulation of the startle reflex.
惊跳反射为感觉运动门控和信息处理的研究提供了独特的工具。同时进行肌电图 fMRI 采集（即在磁共振环境中进行在线刺激和记录）可定量评估惊跳反射的神经元相关性及其在单个试验水平上的调制。这为惊跳反应知情 fMRI 分析提供了基础，该分析由在同一大脑中同时获取的数据提供。我们在此介绍了第一项使用单次试验方法同时采集肌电图和 fMRI 数据的磁共振研究，该研究调查了 15 名健康年轻男性惊跳反应的神经相关性。它研究了孤立的空气喷射惊跳脉冲（PA）、前脉冲脉冲抑制（PPI）和前脉冲促进（PPF）的神经相关性。我们确定了一个由所有三种条件（PA、PPI 和 PPF）共同参与的核心网络，包括双侧初级和次级体感皮层、右侧脑岛、右侧丘脑、右侧颞极、中扣带皮层和小脑。小脑蚓部在惊跳修饰之间表现出不同的激活模式。它在 PPF 中表现出最高的激活幅度，在 PA 中表现出较低的激活幅度，在 PPI 中表现出最低的激活幅度。眶额皮层表现出不同的激活模式，不是针对惊跳反应的类型，而是针对幅度的修饰。对于仅脉冲，它接近零；对于 PPI，它被激活。这与 PPF 形成对比，在 PPF 中它表现出去激活。此外，丘脑、小脑和前扣带皮层也参与了惊跳反射的调制。
