Fear Potentiated Startle (FPS) paradigm is a widely
used procedure in behavioral pharmacology that has
been used to study both fear and anxiety like
behavior.
In this pardigm subjects, typically rats are
conditioned through repeated pairings of an
otherwise neutral stimulus (typically a light) with
an aversive stimulus (typically an electric foot
shock. Since the FPS procedure entails both learning
and fear, comparative studies using the FPS response
and a parallel model for conditioned enhancement of
acoustic startle that is not fear based would allow
for a more precise understanding of the neuronal
basis for fear-specific influences versus those
influences related to conditioning in general. The
present studies examine the utility of the startle-
anticipated procedure procedure as a potential non-
fear model for the conditioned enhancement of
startle.
used procedure in behavioral pharmacology that has
been used to study both fear and anxiety like
behavior.
In this pardigm subjects, typically rats are
conditioned through repeated pairings of an
otherwise neutral stimulus (typically a light) with
an aversive stimulus (typically an electric foot
shock. Since the FPS procedure entails both learning
and fear, comparative studies using the FPS response
and a parallel model for conditioned enhancement of
acoustic startle that is not fear based would allow
for a more precise understanding of the neuronal
basis for fear-specific influences versus those
influences related to conditioning in general. The
present studies examine the utility of the startle-
anticipated procedure procedure as a potential non-
fear model for the conditioned enhancement of
startle.