Do rats have orgasms?

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough humans experience orgasms with a degree of statistical regularity, they remain among the most enigmatic of sexual responses; difficult to define and even more difficult to study empirically. The question of whether animals experience orgasms is hampered by similar lack of definition and the additional necessity of making inferences from behavioral responses.MethodHere we define three behavioral criteria, based on dimensions of the subjective experience of human orgasms described by Mah and Binik, to infer orgasm-like responses (OLRs) in other species: 1) physiological criteria that include pelvic floor and anal muscle contractions that stimulate seminal emission and/or ejaculation in the male, or that stimulate uterine and cervical contractions in the female; 2) short-term behavioral changes that reflect immediate awareness of a pleasurable hedonic reward state during copulation; and 3) long-term behavioral changes that depend on the reward state induced by the OLR, including sexual satiety, the strengthening of patterns of sexual arousal and desire in subsequent copulations, and the generation of conditioned place and partner preferences for contextual and partner-related cues associated with the reward state. We then examine whether physiological and behavioral data from observations of male and female rats during copulation, and in sexually-conditioned place- and partner-preference paradigms, are consistent with these criteria.ResultsBoth male and female rats display behavioral patterns consistent with OLRs.ConclusionsThe ability to infer OLRs in rats offers new possibilities to study the phenomenon in neurobiological and molecular detail, and to provide both comparative and translational perspectives that would be useful for both basic and clinical research.

Sex, Drugs, and the Medial Amygdala: A Model of Enhanced Sexual Motivation in the Female Rat

“…Subsequent studies indicate that female rats will only develop this conditioned place preference when copulation is at their preferred pacing interval (Jenkins and Becker, 2003b). Finally, female rats show evidence of orgasm-like behavior as indicated by contractions of the pelvic-floor muscles and short-term changes associated with reward state such as ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs; Pfaus et al, 2016). Taken together, these studies indicate that sexual behavior may, in itself, be rewarding to the female rat, at least under certain conditions.…”

Evaluation of aphrodisiac properties of the aqueous extract of the trunk barks of Spathodea campanulata P. Beauv. (Bignoniaceae) on albino rats (Rattus norvegicus)

“…(5) The latency of the ride which is the time between the introduction of a female in the cage and the first mount; (6) The intromission latency time which is the time between the introduction of the female and the first intromission; (7) The latency time of ejaculation which is the time that separates the first intromission from the first ejaculation (Pfaus et al, 2016).…”

A brief natural history of the orgasm

“…Females Macaca mulatta have been found to reach orgasms after artificial vaginal stimulations (Burton 1971). Zumpe and Michael (1968) also noted pelvic movements in female (Macaca rhesus) and some mammals such as dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, ferrets and rats are known to be stimulated by frictional means (Heeb and Yahr 1996;Troisi and Carosi 1998;Pfaus et al 2016). In mammals, orgasm is accompanied by prostate discharge in males and release of the para-urethral glands [Guérin/Skene's] in females, suggesting a similar role in gamete release in both sexes.…”