Prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response is a form of reflex modification known to be sensitive to drugs and to subtle procedural manipulations. The present study examined the importance of prepulse length and prepulse-pulse interval in the expression of prepulse inhibition and its modification by the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, ketamine. In contrast to a previous report, ketamine disrupted prepulse inhibition at doses of 5.6 and 10 mg/kg when its short time course was taken into consideration. In a second experiment, the amount of prepulse inhibition was found to be directly related to prepulse length, with prepulse inhibition produced by shorter prepulse durations slightly more sensitive to disruption by ketamine. A third experiment examined prepulse-pulse time intervals (30-2000 ms). While prepulse inhibition produced by prepulses occurring 60-500 ms before the startle stimulus was disrupted by 10 mg/kg of ketamine, prepulses preceding the startle stimulus by only 30 ms produced either no effect or slight prepulse facilitation under control conditions, and significant prepulse facilitation when ketamine was administered. A fourth experiment examined the time course of prestimulus modification by continuous lead stimuli, ranging in onset from 15 to 75 ms before the startle stimulus. Prepulse facilitation, when observed, tended to occur in earlier portions of the session and was enhanced by ketamine. These results suggest that prestimulus modification of the startle reflex has important parametric and experiential determinants that may influence the effects of drugs. Some of these temporal determinants may have relevance to sensorimotor function in schizophrenia.