Altered Emotion-Modulated Startle in Young Adults With a Family History of Alcoholism

• Published in: Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 441 - 448
• Main Authors: Miranda Jr, Robert, Meyerson, Lori A., Buchanan, Tony W., Lovallo, William R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2002
• Subjects: Alcohol Dependence; Emotion-Modulated Startle Reflex; Family History
• ISSN: 0145-6008; 1530-0277
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2002.tb02559.x

Background: Alcoholism risk may be accompanied by poor regulation of emotions, signaling altered central nervous system processes. This study used the emotion‐modulated startle paradigm to test the hypothesis that young adults with a positive paternal history of alcoholism (FH+), relative to family‐history‐negative persons (FH−), have altered emotional reactivity to environmental cues. Methods: We tested 30 FH+ and 30 FH−, 15 males and 15 females in each group. Participants completed self‐report instruments and interviews and had eye blink electromyograms (EMG) measured to acoustic startle probes while viewing color photographs rated as affectively pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant. Results: FH− had the expected linear increase in startle magnitude, with eye blink EMG gaining in strength (F= 18, p < 0.0002) from pleasant to neutral to unpleasant slides. In contrast, FH+ did not show EMG potentiation to the unpleasant slides and therefore lacked the same linear trend (F < 1, p > 0.4). Notably, FH groups rated the emotional valence and arousal of the photographs in similar ways. Self‐reported negative affect partly accounted for the lack of startle potentiation in FH+, suggesting that startle modulation differences between the groups may be associated with underlying psychological characteristics. Conclusions: These findings implicate altered limbic outputs to the startle pathway in FH+ despite normal conscious evaluation of emotional arousal and pleasantness of the slides. This method may provide a useful paradigm for testing processing of emotionally relevant stimuli in relation to risk for alcohol use disorders.