[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Disclosures: J. Lass-Hennemann, None; A. Schulz, None; F. Nees, None; T.D. Blumenthal,
None; H. Schaechinger, None.
Poster
293. Startle and Modulation of Startle
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 293.8/SS36
Topic: F.02.f. Fear and aversive learning and memory
Title: Modulation of acoustic startle by appetitive and aversive conditioned olfactory cues
Authors: *G. A. COUSENS, A. BLUMENTHAL, C. R. BOSKA, M. GREGER-MOSER, L. H.
HULL-RAWSON, F. MIELE;
Dept of Psychol, Drew Univ., Madison, NJ
Abstract: The acoustic startle response is known to be modulated by a wide variety of stimulus
manipulations and has been used extensively as a probe to assess emotional state. This response
is sensitive to associative learning mechanisms as conditional stimuli have been shown to either
potentiate or attenuate startle amplitude, depending in part on unconditional stimulus valence.
Stimuli associated with aversive outcomes such as footshock typically enhance startle (fearpotentiation
of startle; FPS), whereas those associated with appetitive outcomes have been
shown to diminish the response (pleasure-attenuation of startle; PAS). Although key components
of the neural circuitry underlying FPS have been identified, the extent to which this circuitry
supports PAS is largely unknown. Determination of the neural mechanisms by which associative
learning can bidirectionally modulate startle would be facilitated by a rodent behavioral model in
which the behavioral effects of appetitive and aversive conditional stimuli could be assessed
within-subjects. Here, we report preliminary data that startle amplitude was unaffected by reexposure
to diffuse background odor previously trained as an effective discriminative stimulus
for consumption of palatable liquid Ensure ® diet, relative to that observed during re-exposure to
a neutral odor. However, startle amplitude was enhanced during re-exposure to an odor
previously paired with footshock (0.5sec; 0.8mA). Current efforts are determining whether
manipulation of training and testing parameters can elicit PAS without significant disruption of
FPS.
Disclosures: G.A. Cousens , None; A. Blumenthal, None; C.R. Boska, None; L.H. Hull-
Rawson, None; M. Greger-Moser, None; F. Miele, None.