Fear-Potentiated Startle Protocol

Fear-potentiated startle (FPS) occurs when the startle response to an acoustic stimulus is increased relative to baseline startle responding via Pavlovian conditioning. The general procedure for producing FPS involves preceding an aversive stimulus (such as a shock or air puff) with a tone (or other neutral stimulus). After several presentations of this stimulus pairing, the presentation of the tone elicits a fear response.

Once conditioning has occurred, the tone is then presented before an acoustic startle stimulus, increasing the intensity of the startle response. FPS is a typical reflex that has been observed in a variety of species, thus making it a useful tool for investigating many learning and memory processes.

NOTE: Designed to specifications provided by Dr. William Falls of the University of Vermont. A method reprint for Fear-Potentiated Startle in mice is available on Dr. Falls’ site.

• Included in the Startle Reflex Package (MED-ASR-PRO1)
• Specify frequency (Hz) and amplitude (dB)
  • NOTE: Protocol code cannot be edited, for custom experiment design use the Startle Reflex Pro software (SOF-828)

Protocol Summary

Train

• Acclimation period of five (5) minutes
• Ten (10) trials each, 30 second pre-pulse tone @ 12 KHz / 70 dB
• Tone followed by a foot shock stimulus for the last 0.25 seconds (or 0.5 secs?)
• Each trial separated by a variable ITI range of 2 – 4 minutes

Test

• Acclimation period of five (5) minute
• Nine (9) noise-burst trials @ 12 KHz / 100, 105, 110 dB
• Nine (9) randomly presented noise burst trials of noise-bursts @ 12 KHz / 70 dB
• Nine (9) randomly presented noise burst & pre-pulse tone trials @ 12 KHz / 70 dB

SKU:   SOF-827