Swerdlow N R, Hartman P L, Auerbach P P
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0804, USA.
Biol Psychiatry. 1997 Feb 15;41(4):452-60. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00065-0.
The startle reflex is inhibited when the starting noise is preceded 30-500 msec by a weak prepulse. "Prepulse inhibition" (PPI) is reduced in specific neuropsychiatric disorders characterized clinically by impaired inhibition of sensory, motor, or cognitive information. PPI is sexually dimorphic, with men exhibiting significantly more PPI than women. We examined possible neuroendocrine substrates for this sex difference in PPI. The startle reflex, and a measure of visuospatial priming, were measured in 10 men, and in 46 normal women at different points in their menstrual cycle. In women, PPI was significantly reduced in the luteal vs follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. This reduction in PPI was most notable during the period corresponding to midluteal elevations of both estrogen and progesterone. In a task of visuospatial priming, follicular-phase women demonstrated a predominance of inhibition over facilitation, but this pattern reversed across the menstrual cycle.
当起始噪声之前30 - 500毫秒出现一个弱的预脉冲时，惊跳反射会受到抑制。“预脉冲抑制”（PPI）在特定的神经精神疾病中会降低，这些疾病在临床上的特征是对感觉、运动或认知信息的抑制受损。PPI存在性别差异，男性表现出的PPI明显多于女性。我们研究了PPI这种性别差异可能的神经内分泌基础。在10名男性以及46名处于月经周期不同阶段的正常女性中测量了惊跳反射和视觉空间启动的一项指标。在女性中，月经周期黄体期的PPI显著低于卵泡期。PPI的这种降低在与黄体中期雌激素和孕激素升高相对应的时期最为明显。在一项视觉空间启动任务中，卵泡期女性表现出抑制作用占主导，但这种模式在整个月经周期中会发生逆转。
