One of the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
is an exaggerated startle response; however, this phenomenon has not been
verified empirically. The authors compared 20 Vietnam combat veterans with
PTSD and 18 combat veterans without PTSD on the eyeblink reflex
electromyographic response of the startle reaction. Subjects in both groups
who failed to show an eyeblink response to the startle stimuli were
eliminated from further analyses. Among the remaining subjects, the 13 with
PTSD had a significantly greater startle response amplitude than the 12
control subjects at intermediate intensities of acoustic stimuli. The
relationship between startle responsivity and both negative and positive
symptoms was also investigated.
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