Cognitive and personality analysis of startle reactivity in a large cohort of healthy males

Stella G. Giakoumaki, Panos Roussos, Eva Maria Tsapakis, Erasmia Koiliari, Emmanouil Pasparakis, Chrysoula Zouraraki, Panos Bitsios

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Subjects with low/undetectable startle are usually excluded from startle studies but few reports not confounded by this factor, show reduced startle in healthy impulsive subjects, or clinical populations with disorders of affect and impulsivity but also in schizophrenia and its prodrome. We examined the relationship of startle reactivity including startle "non-responding" status to cognitive and affective personality traits in a large and ethnically/demographically homogeneous cohort of healthy males from the LOGOS study, Heraklion, Crete. Startle reactivity was monotonically related to sensitivity to reward (higher in "non-responders", lower in strong responders). In addition, "non-responders" had poorer strategy, working memory and sustained attention performance compared to responder tertile groups. More research in clinical and high risk populations is required to examine if low/undetectable startle reactivity is a valuable intermediate phenotype for disorders of affect and impulsivity. It is possible that the "non-responsive" status may capture disease related features such as executive dysfunction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)582-591
Number of pages10
JournalBiological Psychology
Volume94
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2013

Keywords

  • Acoustic startle reflex
  • Executive function
  • Impulsivity
  • Intermediate phenotype
  • LOGOS cohort
  • Startle non responders

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cognitive and personality analysis of startle reactivity in a large cohort of healthy males'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this