PDF In order to be able to confidently assert that any RT speeding following a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) is the result of activation in subcortical areas related to the startle reflex, a reliable indication that a startle reflex actually occurred is required. While the eye-blink response is typically used…
PDF This paper investigated whether an additive model of activation or a horse-race model would be a better fit for data showing that reaction times are facilitated to a greater degree than would be expected when a startling stimulus presented after the typical “go” signal. Abstract: When a startling acoustic…
PDF This study investigated whether movements that were “imaged” or “imagined” to be executed involved a build up of preparatory activation in brain structures in a similar way as movements that were actually executed. By using a loud startling acoustic stimulus, we are able to elicit pre-planned movements if they…
PDF This study is a replication of a previous experiment that investigated how movement-related brain activation changes as a go-stimulus approaches in time. The previous experiment used a startle to show that activity increased in short time prior to the go-signal. However, startle activity was not reported, so this was only…
PDF Seminal work by Georgopoulos and colleagues (1987) showed that reaction time (RT) increased when a rotational mental transformation had to be calculated prior to responding. A loud acoustic stimulus can be used to trigger prepared responses, so this effect was used in the current experiment to determine how preparatory activation levels in…