Diazepam blocks fear-enhanced startle elicited electrically from the brainstem

Abstract

Startle-like responses were elicited electrically from the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) in darkness or in the presence of a light that had previously been paired with shocks. These startle-like responses were potentiated by the light and potentiation was selectively decreased by diazepam in a dose-related fashion (0.625 to 2.5 mg/kg). The benzodiazepine antagonist RO15-1788 attenuated the effect of diazepam. The data indicate that potentiation of electrically elicited startle behaves like acoustically elicited startle, providing further evidence that electrical elicitation of startle is a viable experimental technique.