Audiogenic startle reflex of man and its relationship to startle syndromes. A review.

The normal human audiogenic startle reflex is defined from a review of the literature, substantiated by a current investigation of normal subjects, and clarified pathophysiologically by a discussion of animal experimentation. The basic information is used to evaluate critically a variety of syndromes loosely termed 'startle' in the past. A new classification of startle syndromes is proposed.