The Mammalian Startle Response

One of the ultimate goals of neuroscience is to determine how the brain directs and changes behavior in man. Given the enormous complexity of this endeavor, an increasing number of neuroscientists have focused on invertebrates and lower vertebrates in an effort to simplify the problem. Eventually, however, it will be necessary to analyze the cellular basis of behavior in a complex mammalian brain. To approach the problem at this level, it would be useful to study a relatively simple behavior that can be elicited in mammals and that is sensitive to a variety of experimental treatments.

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