Hall R D
Physiol Behav. 1984 Feb;32(2):175-81. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(84)90126-4.
Acoustic startle responses were measured as part of a systematic attempt to determine if early protein malnutrition leads to a general hyperreactivity to aversive stimulation. In Experiment 1 startle responses transduced by floor movements were not reliably influenced by protein restriction in the preweaning or postweaning periods. The magnitude of the startle response, however, was positively correlated with body weight, partly as a consequence of the transduction method. Thus, differences in body weight might have obscured diet-related differences in startle amplitude. In Experiment 2 startles were recorded as electromyographic responses of the neck muscles and were larger in rats fed the low protein diet postweaning, especially in rats switched from high to low protein conditions at weaning. There was no indication that rats subjected to preweaning protein malnutrition were hyperreactive to aversive stimulation. In Experiment 1 it was also found that mean startle amplitudes were larger in young adults, 60 or 90 days old, than in 35-day-old rats, partly because there was less habituation in the adults.
作为一项系统性尝试的一部分，我们测量了听觉惊吓反应，以确定早期蛋白质营养不良是否会导致对厌恶性刺激产生普遍的过度反应。在实验1中，由地面运动传导的惊吓反应在断奶前或断奶后的时期内，并未受到蛋白质限制的可靠影响。然而，惊吓反应的幅度与体重呈正相关，部分原因是传导方法所致。因此，体重差异可能掩盖了与饮食相关的惊吓幅度差异。在实验2中，惊吓反应被记录为颈部肌肉的肌电图反应，断奶后喂食低蛋白饮食的大鼠的惊吓反应更大，尤其是那些在断奶时从高蛋白条件转换为低蛋白条件的大鼠。没有迹象表明断奶前遭受蛋白质营养不良的大鼠对厌恶性刺激反应过度。在实验1中还发现，60或90日龄的年轻成年大鼠的平均惊吓幅度大于35日龄的大鼠，部分原因是成年大鼠的习惯化程度较低。
