J Gebhardt, S Schulz-Juergensen, P Eggert
Department of Pediatrics, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. julia.gebhardt@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
Psychophysiology 2012 AprIt is known that sensorimotor gating measured by the prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex (PPI) matures during childhood. Since certain disorders in children, for example, enuresis, show a significant loss in PPI, the PPI as a tool for investigating brainstem reflex control mechanism gains in importance. Therefore, it is crucial to know the natural course of PPI maturation in childhood. A total of 122 healthy children aged from 3-10 years and 10 healthy adults were examined. PPI was initiated by a 120 ms and a 60 ms prepulse and was measured by the EMG of M. orbicularis oculi. For the respective prepulse intervals, the PPI level in each age group increased from 3 to 9 or 10 years and showed a similar course. The findings confirm and extend knowledge about the maturation of PPI during childhood and emphasize the importance of age-dependent standard values when investigating PPI in children. Copyright © 2011 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
J Gebhardt, S Schulz-Juergensen, P Eggert. Maturation of prepulse inhibition (PPI) in childhood. Psychophysiology. 2012 Apr;49(4):484-8
PMID: 22176532
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