Prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex is a neurophysiological and behavioral measure of sensorimotor gating.
In the prepulse inhibition procedure, the animal is placed in a small chamber and exposed to a brief pulse of noise. In the acoustic (startle model) of sensorimotor gating, a weak acoustic stimulus (ie, the prepulse) decreases the reflexive flinching response (startle) produced by a second, more intense, stimulus (the pulse).