Inhibition of the glabella reflex by monaural and binaural stimulation. 1980

H S Hoffman, and C L Stitt

The human eyeblink, elicited by a tap to the glabella, can be inhibited if a relatively weak acoustic signal precedes the tap by approximately 100 msec. The work reported here was designed to explore the surprising fact that more inhibition occurs when the acoustic prestimulation is presented monaurally than when it is presented binaurally. The present studies revealed that (a) given equally loud binaural inputs, a reduction of about 40 dB(A) in one of them is sufficient to produce inhibition comparable to that produced by a monaural signal, (b) the difference between nonaural and binaural inhibition remains constant as the intensity of prestimulation is varied, and (c) the simultaneous offset of a tone in one ear and onset of a tone in the other ear produces more inhibition than either monaural offest or onset alone. These findings suggest that the specific attributes of a given acoustic signal make independent contributions to the inhibition produced by that signal.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009433 Neural Inhibition The function of opposing or restraining the excitation of neurons or their target excitable cells. Inhibition, Neural
D001767 Blinking Brief closing of the eyelids by involuntary normal periodic closing, as a protective measure, or by voluntary action. Orbicularis Oculi Reflex,Reflex, Blink,Reflex, Corneal,Reflex, Orbicularis Oculi,Winking,Blink Reflexes,Corneal Reflexes,Orbicularis Oculi Reflexes,Blink Reflex,Reflexes, Blink,Reflexes, Orbicularis Oculi
D004292 Dominance, Cerebral Dominance of one cerebral hemisphere over the other in cerebral functions. Cerebral Dominance,Hemispheric Specialization,Dominances, Cerebral,Specialization, Hemispheric
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000161 Acoustic Stimulation Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system. Auditory Stimulation,Stimulation, Acoustic,Stimulation, Auditory
D001307 Auditory Perception The process whereby auditory stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted by the organism. Auditory Processing,Perception, Auditory,Processing, Auditory

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