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The neurofunctional basis of affective startle modulation in humans – evidence from combined facial EMG-fMRI

View ORCID ProfileManuel Kuhn, Julia Wendt, Rachel Sjouwerman, Christian Büchel, Alfons Hamm, View ORCID ProfileTina B. Lonsdorf
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/567032
Manuel Kuhn
1Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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  • For correspondence: m.kuhn@uke.de
Julia Wendt
2Department of Clinical and Physiological Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
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Rachel Sjouwerman
1Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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Christian Büchel
1Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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Alfons Hamm
2Department of Clinical and Physiological Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
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Tina B. Lonsdorf
1Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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  • ORCID record for Tina B. Lonsdorf
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Abstract

The startle reflex, a protective response elicited by an immediate, unexpected sensory event, is potentiated when evoked during threat and inhibited during safety. In contrast to skin conductance responses or pupil dilation, modulation of the startle reflex is valence-specific and considered the cross-species translational tool for defensive responding.

Rodent models implicate a modulatory pathway centering on the brainstem (i.e., nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis, PnC) and the centromedial amygdala (CeM) as key hubs for flexibly integrating valence information into differential startle magnitude.

We employed innovative combined EMG-fMRI measurements in two independent experiments and samples and provide converging evidence for the involvement of these key regions in the modulatory acoustic startle reflex pathway in humans. Furthermore, we provide the crucial direct link between EMG startle eye-blink magnitude and neural response strength.

We argue that startle-evoked amygdala responding and its affective modulation may hold promise as an important novel tool for affective neuroscience.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted March 05, 2019.
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The neurofunctional basis of affective startle modulation in humans – evidence from combined facial EMG-fMRI
Manuel Kuhn, Julia Wendt, Rachel Sjouwerman, Christian Büchel, Alfons Hamm, Tina B. Lonsdorf
bioRxiv 567032; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/567032
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The neurofunctional basis of affective startle modulation in humans – evidence from combined facial EMG-fMRI
Manuel Kuhn, Julia Wendt, Rachel Sjouwerman, Christian Büchel, Alfons Hamm, Tina B. Lonsdorf
bioRxiv 567032; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/567032

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