A Sexually Dimorphic Area of the Dorsal Hypothalamus in Mice and Common Marmosets

We found a novel sexually dimorphic area (SDA) in the dorsal hypothalamus (DH) of mice. The SDA-DH was sandwiched between 2 known male-biased sexually dimorphic nuclei, the principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the calbindin-sexually dimorphic nucleus, and exhibited a female-biased sex difference in neuronal cell density. The density of neurons in the SDA-DH was increased in male mice by orchidectomy on the day of birth and decreased in female mice by treatment with testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, or estradiol within 5 days after birth. These findings indicate that the SDA-DH is defeminized under the influence of testicular testosterone, which acts via both directly by binding to the androgen receptor, and indirectly by binding to the estrogen receptor after aromatization. We measured the activity of SDA-DH neurons with c-Fos, a neuronal activity marker, in female mice during maternal and sexual behaviors. The number of c-Fos-expressing neurons in the SDA-DH of female mice was negatively correlated with maternal behavior performance. However, the number of c-Fos-expressing neurons did not change during female sexual behavior. These findings suggest that the SDA-DH contains a neuronal cell population, the activity of which decreases in females exhibiting higher performance of maternal behavior, but it may contribute less to female sexual behavior. Additionally, we examined the brain of common marmosets and found an area that appears to be homologous with the mouse SDA-DH. The sexually dimorphic structure identified in this study is not specific to mice and may be found in other species.

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Developmental effects of perinatal exposure to PBDE and PCB on gene expression in sexually dimorphic rat brain regions and female sexual behavior

General and Comparative Endocrinology ◽

10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.04.008 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 188 ◽

pp. 232-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Oliver Faass ◽

Raffaella Ceccatelli ◽

Margret Schlumpf ◽

Walter Lichtensteiger

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Sexual Behavior ◽

Rat Brain ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Perinatal Exposure ◽

Female Sexual Behavior ◽

Rat Brain Regions ◽

Developmental Effects

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Female sexual behavior, estrous cycle and gene expression in sexually dimorphic brain regions after pre- and postnatal exposure to endocrine active UV filters

NeuroToxicology ◽

10.1016/j.neuro.2008.12.008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 249-260 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Oliver Faass ◽

Margret Schlumpf ◽

Sasha Reolon ◽

Manuel Henseler ◽

Kirsten Maerkel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Sexual Behavior ◽

Estrous Cycle ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Uv Filters ◽

Postnatal Exposure ◽

Female Sexual Behavior

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Female rat sexual behavior is unaffected by perinatal fluoxetine exposure

10.1101/2020.05.29.122945 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jan Hegstad ◽

Patty T. Huijgens ◽

Danielle J. Houwing ◽

Jocelien D.A. Olivier ◽

Roy Heijkoop ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Behavior ◽

Early Development ◽

Adult Female ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Estrogen Receptor Α ◽

Serotonin Release ◽

Conflict Behavior ◽

Female Rat ◽

Female Sexual Behavior

AbstractSerotonin plays an important role in adult female sexual behavior, however little is known about the influence of serotonin during early development on sexual functioning in adulthood. During early development, serotonin acts as neurotrophic factor, while it functions as a modulatory neurotransmitter in adulthood. The occurrence of serotonin release, could thus have different effects on behavioral outcomes, depending on the developmental period in which serotonin is released. Because serotonin is involved in the development of the HPG axis which is required for puberty establishment, serotonin could also alter expression patterns of for instance the estrogen receptor α (ERα).The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of increased serotonin levels during early development on adult female rat sexual behavior during the full behavioral estrus in a seminatural environment. To do so, rats were perinatally exposed with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (10 mg/kg FLX) and sexual performance was tested during adulthood. All facets of female sexual behavior between the first and last lordosis (behavioral estrus), and within each copulation bout of the behavioral estrus were analyzed. Besides the length and onset of the behavioral estrus and the sexual behaviors patterns, other social and conflict behavior were also investigated. In addition, we studied the effects of perinatal FLX exposure on ERα expression patterns in the medial preoptic nucleus, ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, medial amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the dorsal raphé nucleus.The results showed that perinatal fluoxetine exposure has no effect on adult female sexual behavior. The behavioral estrus of FLX-females had the same length and pattern as CTR-females. In addition, FLX- and CTR-females showed the same amount of paracopulatory behavior and lordosis, both during the full behavioral estrus and the “most active bout”. Furthermore, no differences were found in the display of social and conflict behaviors, nor in ERα expression patterns in the brain. We conclude that increases in serotonin levels during early development do not have long-term consequences for female sexual behavior in adulthood.

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Knockdown of Sexually Differentiated Vasopressin Expression in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Reduces Social and Sexual Behavior in Male, but Not Female, Mice

Journal of Neuroendocrinology ◽

10.1111/jne.13083 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nicole Rigney ◽

Adam Zbib ◽

Geert J. Vries ◽

Aras Petrulis

Keyword(s):

Sexual Behavior ◽

Stria Terminalis ◽

Bed Nucleus ◽

Female Mice

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Destruction of the Main Olfactory Epithelium Reduces Female Sexual Behavior and Olfactory Investigation in Female Mice

Chemical Senses ◽

10.1093/chemse/bjj035 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 315-323 ◽

Cited By ~ 89

Author(s):

Matthieu Keller ◽

Quentin Douhard ◽

Michael J. Baum ◽

Julie Bakker

Keyword(s):

Sexual Behavior ◽

Olfactory Epithelium ◽

Female Sexual Behavior ◽

Female Mice ◽

Main Olfactory Epithelium

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Oxytocin, Erectile Function and Sexual Behavior: Last Discoveries and Possible Advances

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms221910376 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (19) ◽

pp. 10376

Author(s):

Maria Rosaria Melis ◽

Antonio Argiolas

Keyword(s):

Sexual Behavior ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Erectile Function ◽

Complex Function ◽

Laboratory Animals ◽

Men And Women ◽

Male And Female ◽

Female Sexual Behavior ◽

Sexual Behavior In Animals

A continuously increasing amount of research shows that oxytocin is involved in numerous central functions. Among the functions in which oxytocin is thought to be involved are those that play a role in social and sexual behaviors, and the involvement of central oxytocin in erectile function and sexual behavior was indeed one of the first to be discovered in laboratory animals in the 1980s. The first part of this review summarizes the results of studies done in laboratory animals that support a facilitatory role of oxytocin in male and female sexual behavior and reveal mechanisms through which this ancient neuropeptide participates in concert with other neurotransmitters and neuropeptides in this complex function, which is fundamental for the species reproduction. The second part summarizes the results of studies done mainly with intranasal oxytocin in men and women with the aim to translate the results found in laboratory animals to humans. Unexpectedly, the results of these studies do not appear to confirm the facilitatory role of oxytocin found in male and female sexual behavior in animals, both in men and women. Possible explanations for the failure of oxytocin to improve sexual behavior in men and women and strategies to attempt to overcome this impasse are considered.

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Maternal Behavior in Handled and Nonhandled Mice and its Relation to Later Pup's Behavior

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1977.40.2.411 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 411-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Robert Deitchman ◽

David Kapusinski ◽

Joel Burkholder

Keyword(s):

Sexual Behavior ◽

Open Field ◽

Maternal Behavior ◽

Maternal Care ◽

Treatment Condition ◽

Prenatal Treatment ◽

Open Field Behavior ◽

Female Mice ◽

Maternal Behaviors ◽

Field Behavior

12 C31 female mice were either handled or nonhandled during 21 days of pregnancy, and the offspring fostered or cross-fostered to mothers of the same or opposite treatment condition. Maternal behaviors of Lying Alone, Lying with Pups, Grooming, Sustenance Behavior, Nesting, Locomotion, and Neonatal Grooming were recorded for the first 3 wk. postpartum. Both prenatal treatment and postnatal maternal care altered open-field behavior of the offspring at 30 days. Neonatal grooming is considered a possible mediating mechanism because of its importance for infant physiological development and later sexual behavior.

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Leptin facilitates and inhibits sexual behavior in female hamsters

AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpregu.1997.272.4.r1354 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 272 (4) ◽

pp. R1354-R1358 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

G. N. Wade ◽

R. L. Lempicki ◽

A. K. Panicker ◽

R. M. Frisbee ◽

J. D. Blaustein

Keyword(s):

Sexual Behavior ◽

Food Deprivation ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Ventromedial Hypothalamus ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Wild Type ◽

Female Sexual Behavior ◽

Body Fat Content ◽

Induced Changes ◽

Estrous Behavior

Food deprivation decreases fertility in female mammals in part by inhibiting sexual behaviors. Genetically obese ob/ob mice, like food-deprived wild-type animals, are also infertile; treatment of ob/ob mice with leptin, the adipocyte-derived protein that they lack, corrects some of their reproductive deficiencies. We tested the hypothesis that leptin treatment would prevent the suppression of sexual receptivity that is caused by food deprivation in female Syrian hamsters. Instead, we found that treatment with murine leptin facilitated female sexual behavior in ad libitum-fed hamsters, but not in food-deprived animals. In food-deprived hamsters, leptin treatment actually intensified the inhibition of lordosis. Food deprivation decreased detectable estrogen receptor immunoreactivity (ERIR) in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), but the leptin-induced changes in female sexual behavior were not accompanied by parallel changes in VMH ERIR. Thus leptin facilitates estrous behavior in hamsters, but it does not overcome the lordosis-inhibiting metabolic cues produced by acute food deprivation. Because circulating leptin levels are directly related to body fat content, an implication of these findings is that elevated levels of adipose tissue could have a positive influence on sexual responsiveness.

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