Influence of gender and age on auditory startle reflex in healthy adults

Objective To explore the influence of gender and age on auditory startle reflex in healthy adults. Methods A total of 150 healthy volunteers (92 males and 58 females) aged from 18 to 60 years were recruited for this study.A modified startle reflex paradigm was adopted.Furthermore, gender-age differences on startle magnitude, habituation, perceived spatial co-location induced prepulse inhibition (PSC-PPI) and perceived spatial separation-induced prepulse inhibition (PSS-PPI) in healthy volunteers were analyzed. Results ① There was no significant difference in amplitude and habituation of startie reflex between males and females (F=0.29, P=0.593; F=1.57, P=0.212). PSC-PPI and PSS-PPI were significantly higher in males(PSC-PPI: (34.68±20.81)%, PSS-PPI: (44.56±23.19)%) than those in females (PSC-PPI: (23.11±22.43)%, PSS-PPI: (35.21±25.09)%)(F=9.48, P=0.002; F=4.76, P=0.031). ② There was a negative correlation between startle magnitude and age (r=-0.29, P 0.05). Conclusions There are differences for gender and age in the indexes of startle reflex.In detail, age chiefly influences startle magnitude, while gender mainly affects the prepulse inhibition. Key words: Startle reflex; Gender; Age; Modified startle reflex paradigm; The healthy adults