Involvement of the human cerebellum during habituation of theacoustic startle response: A PET study |
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| Authors: | D. Timmann C. Musso F. Kolb M. Rijntjes M. Juptner S. Muller H. C. Diener C. Weiller |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Neurology, University of Essen, Germany. |
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| Abstract: | The present study investigated the involvement of the humancerebellum in the habituation of the acoustic startle response usingPET. The startle response was elicited in seven young, healthy subjectsby a tone presented via headphones. Startle responses were recordedfrom the right sternocleidomastoid muscle. Regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF) was assessed in nine scans and one startle stimulus was appliedduring each scan. The reduction of size of the sternocleidomastoidmuscle response was correlated with changes in rCBF during the ongoingprocess of startle response habituation. A significant decrease of rCBFwas found in the medial cerebellum. These data are consistent with aninvolvement of the medial parts of the human cerebellum innon-associative learning as proposed by previous animal studies.
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