{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T12:30:10Z","timestamp":1777984210344,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771286400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":16,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,1]],"date-time":"2026-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769904000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Eur J of Neuroscience"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The modulation of the hand\u2010blink reflex (HBR), a prototypical nocifensive response, is increasingly used to investigate defensive behaviour, related to the notion of peripersonal space. However, HBR responsiveness is highly variable across participants. This variability has led researchers to use several seemingly arbitrary criteria to determine whether a subject should be included as a participant in a study. But are these criteria justified? Can better and more rigorous criteria be formulated? Does the traditional division into responders and non\u2010responders reflect a practical decision to exclude participants with very low signal\u2010to\u2010noise ratio, or does it reflect two distinct biological categories? Here, we addressed these issues by systematically varying a set of parameters, which together form an objective and quantifiable criterion of HBR responsiveness. We describe classification criteria for HBR responsiveness that were both reliable and consistent with previous studies. We also found no evidence for a clear\u2010cut biological distinction between HBR responders and non\u2010responders. We recommend to (1) no longer preliminarily screen subjects, simply collecting data on all subjects, and (2), after collecting the data, only include subjects identified as blinkers using the following criteria: The mean of the rectified HBR must exceed 2.5\u2009SD of the baseline EMG in 40% or more of trials in the hand\u2010near condition. We formulate rigorous inclusion criteria for HBR studies, which can be adapted for use on other neurophysiological responses in health and disease.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/ejn.70421","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T06:41:58Z","timestamp":1771396918000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Robust Approach to Quantify Nocifensive Blink Reflex Responsiveness"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"63","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6976-5368","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"R.\u00a0J.","family":"Bufacchi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"International Center for Primate Brain Research (ICPBR) Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch  Shanghai China"},{"name":"Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) Center for Life and Nano Science  Rome Italy"},{"name":"Epigenetics &amp; Neurobiology Unit European Molecular Biology Laboratory Rome  Monterotondo Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"R.","family":"Somervail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) Center for Life and Nano Science  Rome Italy"},{"name":"Translational and Computational Neuroscience Unit Manchester Metropolitan University  Manchester UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"K.","family":"Shao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Center for Primate Brain Research (ICPBR) Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch  Shanghai China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"M.","family":"Kilintari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology University College London (UCL)  London UK"},{"name":"Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Technology Bournemouth University  Bournemouth UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"G.","family":"Novembre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience of Perception and Action Laboratory Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) Center for Life and Nano Science  Rome Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4364-2068","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"G.\u00a0D.","family":"Iannetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) Center for Life and Nano Science  Rome Italy"},{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology University College London (UCL)  London UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_12_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-009-1784-7"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clinph.2019.04.443"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_4_1","first-page":"415","article-title":"Classification Methods for Ongoing EEG and MEG Signals","volume":"40","author":"Baillet S.","year":"2007","journal-title":"Biological 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