Frankland P W, Josselyn S A, Bradwejn J, Vaccarino F J, Yeomans J S
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ont., Canada.
Brain Res. 1996 Sep 9;733(1):129-32. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(96)00756-1.
The acoustic startle reflex is increased by stimuli associated with aversive events (such as the delivery of shock) and so has been used as a sensitive index of 'anxiety' or 'fear'. Administration of cholecystokininB (CCKB) receptor agonists produces a constellation of behaviors associated with 'anxiety' in laboratory animals and humans. Here, intracerebroventricular infusions of the CCKB agonist, pentagastrin (0, 1, 10, 100 nM), produced a long-lasting, dose-related potentiation of acoustic startle responses. Similar infusions of pentagastrin had no effect on locomotor activity over the same time course, showing that changes in startle responses following infusions of pentagastrin are not due to nonspecific changes in motor activity.
