ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the influence of gender and age on auditory startle reflex in healthy adults.Methods A total of 150 healthy volunteers (92 males and 58 females) aged from 18 to 60 years were recruited for this study.A modified startle reflex paradigm was adopted.Furthermore,gender-age differences on startle magnitude,habituation,perceived spatial co-location induced prepulse inhibition (PSC-PPI) and perceived spatial separation-induced prepulse inhibition (PSS-PPI) in healthy volunteers were analyzed.Results ① There was no significant difference in amplitude and habituation of startie reflex between males and females (F=0.29,P=0.593;F=1.57,P=0.212).PSC-PPI and PSS-PPI were significantly higher in males (PSC-PPI:(34.68± 20.81) ％,PSS-PPI:(44.56 ± 23.19) ％) than those in females (PSC-PPI:(23.11±22.43)％,PSS-PPI:(35.21±25.09)％) (F=9.48,P=0.002;F=4.76,P=0.031).② There was a negative correlation between startle magnitude and age (r=-0.29,P＜0.01),however,no obvious correlations between age and PSC-PPI or PSS-PPI as well as habituation were observed.③Bivariate analysis of variance showed that no interaction between gender and age was found to the indexes of startle reflex(F=0.71-1.36,all P＞0.05).Conclusions There are differences for gender and age in the indexes of startle reflex.In detail,age chiefly influences startle magnitude,while gender mainly affects the prepulse inhibition.