Hypothalamic and midbrain control of sexual receptivity in the female rat
1981; Elsevier BV; Volume: 26; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0031-9384(81)90210-9
ISSN1873-507X
AutoresDavid A. Edwards, Jill K. Pfeifle,
Tópico(s)Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
ResumoThe ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMN) appears to be one site of action for estrogen with respect to the induction of sexual receptivity. Lateral efferents from the VMN pass through a region capping the lateral part of the cerebral peduncle and constitute a “lateral pathway” connecting the VMN with midbrain structures. Bilateral lesions of this peripeduncular region markedly reduced the display of lordosis by estrogen or estrogen-progesterone primed female rats in sex behavior tests with males. Sexual receptivity was comparably reduced when a sagittal knife-cut lateral to the VMN on one side of the brain was combined with a lesion of the peripeduncular region on the other side of the brain. In other words, asymmetric brain damage which nevertheless bilaterally interrupts axons of the lateral pathway connecting the VMN and midbrain markedly reduces the occurrence of lordosis, and we conclude that the integrity of the lateral pathway is essential for the hormonal induction of sexual receptivity in female rats. This pathway may be one avenue through which the action of estrogen on cells of the VMN may bias activity in midbrain structures directly concerned with the elicitation and/or execution of the lordosis reflex, to bring about the occurrence of sexual receptivity in the female.
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