Female Reproductive Behavior

Abstract

Reproductive behavior is the behavior related to the production of offspring and includes all aspects from the establishment of mating systems, courtship, sexual behavior, parturition, to the care of young. In this chapter, I outline the hormonal regulation of the estrous cycle, followed by a description of the neural regulation of female sexual behavior. Ovarian hormones play an important role in the induction of ovulation and behavioral estrus, in which they interact closely with several neurotransmitters and neuropeptides to induce sexual behavior. This chapter discusses the latest research on the role of estrogen, progesterone, serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, oxytocin and GABA in female mating behavior. In addition, the most relevant brain areas, such as the preoptic area and the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, in which these regulations take place, are discussed.

The structural and electrophysiological properties of progesterone receptor expressing neurons vary along the anterior-posterior axis of the ventromedial hypothalamus and undergo local changes across the reproductive cycle

“…In estrus the main cells present in the vaginal secretion are cornified squamous epithelial cells, clustered with irregular shape. These start to be replaced by leukocytes during metestrus, being these predominant cells in diestrus (Caligioni, 2009; Pfaus, 1999; Snoeren, 2018). Experiments were performed when females were in proestrus/estrus (sexually receptive) or in diestrus (sexually non-receptive).…”

“…Nonspecific electrolytic lesions (Pfaff & Sakuma, 1979a) or ablation of genetically delineated neuronal populations (Rissman et al, 1997;Yang et al, 2013) of the VMHvl virtually abolish lordosis, while electrical stimulation at the same location enhances the probability of females displaying it (Pfaff & Sakuma, 1979b). Importantly, VMHvl neurons have rich expression of receptors for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) and therefore are sensitive to the fluctuating levels of these sex hormones across the reproductive cycle (Jennings & de Lecea, 2020;Snoeren, 2018). In accordance, local infusion of sex hormones in the VMHvl increases female receptivity (Rubin & Barfield, 1983a) while male-evoked activity in this hypothalamic nucleus is enhanced when females are sexually receptive (Nomoto & Lima, 2015).…”

The Structural and Electrophysiological Properties of Progesterone Receptor-Expressing Neurons Vary along the Anterior-Posterior Axis of the Ventromedial Hypothalamus and Undergo Local Changes across the Reproductive Cycle

“…In estrus the main cells present in the vaginal secretion are cornified squamous epithelial cells, clustered with irregular shape. These start to be replaced by leukocytes during metestrus, being these predominant cells in diestrus (Caligioni, 2009;Pfaus, 1999;Snoeren, 2018).…”

“…Female reproductive physiology and behavior are under the control of the ovarian sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, whose fluctuating levels act reversibly in the female brain, organizing the activity of neural circuits to synchronize sexual behavior with reproductive capacity ( Snoeren, 2018 ; Jennings and de Lecea, 2020 ). The ventrolateral division of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) is crucial for female reproductive behavior, in particular for the display of lordosis, the female acceptance posture.…”

Female rat sexual behavior is unaffected by perinatal fluoxetine exposure

“…The principle of this axis is that the hypothalamus releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which induces the pituitary to release follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteal hormone (LH). The release of FSH and LH, in turn, stimulates the ovaries to release steroid hormones, like estrogen and progesterone (reviewed in (Snoeren, 2019)). Puberty arises when estrogens are secreted by the ovaries.…”