Feed-forward response of three physiological factors in men and women due to a startle stimulus

Abstract

A feed-forward response is an unconscious anticipatory response that humans have in preparation to respond to a stimulus before it actually occurs. A fear-inducing stimulus may induce an anticipatory physiological feed-forward response at a later time. Physiological responses to fear include increased facial muscle activity, brain activity, or heart rate, which were measured throughout the experiment. Feed-forward response was tested by having a participant view a calming video clip followed by a fear inducing stimulus. The same calming video was then played again in attempt to generate a feed-forward anticipation of the same fear stimulus. The differences in the physiological values were taken between the time periods of Anticipated Scare and Control 2 and compared to the difference found between Control 2 and Control 1. The differences in these values were analyzed using a paired t-test. The results of this experiment did not support our hypothesis that feed-forward response to a fear stimulus increased facial muscle activity, brain activity, or heart rate in both men and women.