[Facilitation effect of lead stimulation on the startle, eyeblink reflex: an analysis of changes in heart rate and some somatic responses (author's transl)].

Some skeletal startle reflexes are facilitated or inhibited when a weak neutral stimulus (S1) precedes a startle-eliciting stimulus (S2). These effects are called the "lead-stimulation effects", and the present research is concerned with the facilitation effect of them in the long-ISI condition. The present findings were as follows: the facilitation of the startle eyeblink reflex could not be explained by any changes in HR, spontaneous eyeblinks, and chin EMG activity; and the HR changes were independent of the changes in spontaneous eyeblinks and chin EMG activity. These findings were evaluated from the standpoints of Graham's rebound hypothesis, the Laceys cardiac afferent feedback hypothesis, and the notion of Obrist and his associates against Lacey.