caa a22 4500 46912122X CHVBK 20180323133139.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170328e19920301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF02245417 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF02245417 Responding to acoustic startle during chronic ethanol intoxication and withdrawal [Elektronische Daten] [Stefanie Rassnick, George Koob, Mark Geyer] Ethanol (EtOH) withdrawal is characterized by a hyperexcitable state that includes anxiety, tremor, muscle rigidity and seizures. The present three experiments examined the effects of EtOH dependence and withdrawal on the acoustic startle response, an easily quantifiable measure of behavioral reactivity to exteroceptive stimuli. Two intensities of startle stimuli, 105 and 120 dB pulses, were presented to rats during chronic EtOH exposure and during EtOH withdrawal. Prepulse inhibition, which is a sensitive measure of sensorimotor gating processes associated with filtering sensory stimulation, was also assessed during chronic EtOH exposure and withdrawal. Prepulse inhibition was induced by the presentation of a weak 80 dB acoustic stimulus 100 ms prior to a 120 dB stimulus pulse. After 14 days of EtOH liquid diet administration the magnitude of responses elicited by 105 and 120 dB startle stimuli was less in ethanol-treated subjects during continued EtOH access than in animals fed a control liquid diet. When EtOH liquid diet treatment was continued for an additional 3-day period and animals were tested 8 h after withdrawal from EtOH, withdrawn animals were more reactive to startle stimuli at both intensities than were animals maintained on the EtOH liquid diet. A time-course experiment with repeated startle testing at 4, 8, and 12 h post-EtOH exposure revealed significant increases in responding to the 105 dB startle intensity at 8 h post-EtOH exposure. The ability of animals to respond to a prepulse stimulus was not affected during chronic EtOH treatment, but was reduced during withdrawal. At 8 h post-EtOH exposure, chronically treated EtOH animals showed less prepulse inhibition that animals maintained on EtOH and control liquid diet. Decreased prepulse inhibition was apparent as early as 4 h post-EtOH exposure. These results suggest that the central nervous system hyperexcitability during EtOH withdrawal may be reflected in an activation of the neural circuitry involved in the acoustic startle response. Springer-Verlag, 1992 Ethanol nationallicence Intoxication nationallicence Withdrawal nationallicence Acoustic startle reflex nationallicence Rassnick Stefanie Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, 92037, La Jolla, CA, USA aut Koob George Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, 92037, La Jolla, CA, USA aut Geyer Mark Department of Psychiatry, T-004, University of California, San Diego, 92093, La Jolla, CA, USA aut Psychopharmacology Springer-Verlag 106/3(1992-03-01), 351-358 0033-3158 106:3<351 1992 106 213 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245417 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245417 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Rassnick Stefanie Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, 92037, La Jolla, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Koob George Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, 92037, La Jolla, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Geyer Mark Department of Psychiatry, T-004, University of California, San Diego, 92093, La Jolla, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Psychopharmacology Springer-Verlag 106/3(1992-03-01), 351-358 0033-3158 106:3<351 1992 106 213 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer