Circadian rhythmicity in prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response: A study of chronotype and time-of-day effects in young healthy adults.

Background: Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustically elicited startle response is a widely used cross-species measure of sensorimotor gating. It is known to be reduced in various psychiatric disorders. Given previous reports of (a) disrupted PPI in young adults following overnight sleep deprivation and (b) disrupted sleep-wake cycles and psychiatric disorders being more common in evening than morning chronotypes, it is possible that there are chronobiological influences on human PPI.

Aims: We investigated chronotype, time of day (ToD) and synchrony effects (i.e. optimal functioning at preferred ToD) in acoustic PPI in young healthy adults.

Methods: Thirty-six adults, selected from a larger pool (N = 213) to represent morning, intermediate or evening chronotypes, were assessed on PPI (prepulse-to-pulse intervals: 30, 60 and 120-ms) on two occasions, 1 week apart: once in the morning (8:00-10:00) and once during the late afternoon (16:00-18:00).

Results: There were no chronotype or synchrony effects on PPI. In the late afternoon, compared to the morning session, (i) there was greater startle amplitude on pulse-alone trials in association with higher schizotypy and (ii) greater PPI on 120-ms (but not 30-ms or 60-ms) PPI trials, but this effect became non-significant after covarying for schizotypy.

Conclusions: Our findings showed no chronotype or synchrony effect on PPI, and offer further support for PPI to be a stable biomarker that is not significantly modulated by chronotype or ToD in healthy adults. ToD, however, may influence some startle parameters in association with schizotypy and should be considered in future studies of schizotypy and related populations.