To understand the expressive range of the human face, nothing beats watching a colleague scream his head off in slow motion. When my lab began to study protective reflexes in the early 2000s, the ...

Political views are often so staunchly held that one wonders whether they aren’t hardwired in a person’s genes. Indeed, in the past, studies of twins have suggested that DNA may play a role in ...

I’ve been reading a lot recently about the startle reflex as it applies to folks who suffer with panic disorder and agoraphobia. As you probably suspected, people diagnosed with this wretched curse ...

Your baby's flinch when his sister screams feels alarming, and you want a clear answer about whether it harms him. A startled reaction is usually a normal reflex, not a sign of lasting damage, but ...

The startle response, often recorded as an eye-blink reflex, is a defensive measure believed to reflect emotional processing. Patients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) show abnormal startle-reflex ...

When we're suddenly confronted with a shocking image, our skin becomes moist and we blink strongly. These actions are automatic and unintentional; they happen without conscious thought. So it may come ...

A car backfires, and your shoulders jump. A shadow moves, and your eyes fly open before your brain catches up. That dramatic flash of white sclera around widened eyes feels automatic because it is.

New research published in The Journal of Physiology suggests that a cause of whiplash injuries could be startle reflexes elicited by unexpected loud sounds. New research published in The Journal of ...