Test-retest reliability of the somatosensory blink reflex and its inhibition

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) involves inhibition of the blink reflex by a weak stimulus or prepulse presented immediately prior to the blink reflex-eliciting stimulus. Ten subjects were tested for PPI two times each day with a 60 min pause between tests, for 4 days spaced 1 week apart. Both the somatosensory blink reflex and its inhibition by an acoustic prepulse, presented 0, 100, 200 400 and 800 ms prior to the reflex-eliciting stimulus, were investigated. The results showed very high reliability for the blink reflex across all eight tests (Chronbach's alpha = 0.98). Inhibition of the reflex by a prepulse displayed alphas of >0.94, and percentage of PPI also displayed significant reliability. Blink latency also displayed high reliability. In sum, the reliability of the somatosensory blink reflex and its inhibition is very high, (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.