Mammalian Acoustic Startle Response and Circadian Rhythms

Over the past few decades we have also conducted investigations on some mammals, especially two species of rodents, the rat and the Egyptian spiny mouse. These investigations have generally revolved around the circadian modulation of behavior. In the rat, we showed that their acoustic startle response (ASR) was much more robust at night than during the day in both light:dark cycles and in constant conditions. These findings were very important for the many dozens of research labs around the world that used the ASR as a method to examine the effects of toxic chemicals and drugs and as a way to screen possible drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia.