Hormonal and behavioral responses of male hamsters to females and female odors: Roles of olfaction, the vomeronasal system, and sexual experience

Pfeiffer, Cheryl A.; Johnston, Robert E.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(94)90020-5

Cited by 115 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The increased interest in female odors exhibited by wt-SE males suggests that sexual experience increases the behavioral significance of female odors, reinforcing their signal value. Rodent studies have shown that latencies to mount, intromit, and ejaculate with females decrease in male rats when sexually experienced (30) and that male hamsters are faster to mount females when sexually experienced (31). Our findings match this previous work and suggest that increased investigation of female chemosignals may be a component of the increase in sexual interest exhibited by sexually experienced males.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Genomic imprinting mediates sexual experience-dependent olfactory learning in male mice

Swaney

Curley

Champagne

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Mammalian imprinted genes are generally thought to have evolved as a result of conflict between parents; however, recent knockout studies suggest that coadaptation between mother and offspring may have been a significant factor. We present evidence that the same imprinted gene that regulates mammalian maternal care and offspring development also regulates male sexual behavior and olfaction. We have shown that the behavior of male mice carrying a knockout of the imprinted gene Peg3 does not change with sexual experience and that the mice are consequently unable to improve their copulatory abilities or olfactory interest in female odor cues after mating experience. Forebrain activation, as indexed by female odor-induced c-Fos protein induction, fails to increase with sexual experience, providing a neural basis for the behavioral deficits that the male mice display. The behavioral and neural effects of the Peg3 knockout show that this imprinted gene has evolved to regulate multiple and varied aspects of reproduction, from male sexual behavior to female maternal care, and the development of offspring. Moreover, sexual experience-driven behavioral changes may represent an adaptive response that enables males to increase their reproductive potential over their lifespan, and the effects we have found suggest that the evolution of genomic imprinting has been influenced by coadaptation between males and females as well as between females and offspring.accessory olfactory system ͉ coadaptation ͉ mammalian brain ͉ reward ͉ sexual behavior T he expression of certain mammalian autosomal genes in a parent-of-origin fashion was first demonstrated in the 1980s and termed ''genomic imprinting'' (1); since then, close to 100 maternally and paternally expressed imprinted genes have been identified (2). Over the last 20 years, the essential roles that imprinted genes play in development, particularly that of the brain, have become clear (3, 4), suggesting that imprinted genes might have enabled the evolutionary expansion of the mammalian brain (5). Most imprinted genes are strongly expressed in the placenta (6) and are involved in regulating fetal development (7). These developmental roles, in particular those of Igf2, Igf2r, Igf2AS, and H19, have been cited as evidence to support the conflict theory for the evolution of genomic imprinting (8). This theory posits that imprinted genes evolved with placentation in mammals as a result of parental conflict over offspring investment. The fetus/placenta is a genetically half-paternal structure that provides the father with an opportunity to manipulate the mother's investment in his offspring to the possible detriment of her potential future offspring. Thus, paternally expressed genes are predicted to enhance offspring growth, whereas maternally expressed genes are predicted to resist this as a result of an evolutionary ''arms race'' over levels of investment in offspring. However, work by our group on the paternally expressed gene Peg3 has shown that as well as regulating pup development...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Genomic imprinting mediates sexual experience-dependent olfactory learning in male mice

Swaney

Curley

Champagne

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Indeed, the integration of the ability to mate is, in male hamsters, dependent on sexual experience and integration of vomeronasal cues with main olfactory cues [74,84]. In sexually naïve males, severe deficits in mating behavior can be observed following removal of the VNO, demonstrating that vomeronasal inputs are necessary to achieve copulation in these animals.…”

Section: Olfactory Control Of Sexual Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

The main and the accessory olfactory systems interact in the control of mate recognition and sexual behavior

Keller

Baum

Brock

et al. 2009

Behavioural Brain Research

149

101

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“…Being macrosmatic animals, with highly developed olfactory and vomeronasal epithelia (plus other minor sensory organs such as the septal organ of Masera and the ganglion of Grueneberg; see Fortes-Marco et al, 2013), rodents mainly use chemosignals for intraspecies communication. Combined lesions of the main and accessory olfactory systems have devastating effects on their social interactions (see Pfeiffer and Johnston, 1994). This is because rodents emit a myriad of pheromones, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From sexual attraction to maternal aggression: When pheromones change their behavioural significance

Martín‐Sánchez

McLean

Beynon

et al. 2015

Hormones and Behavior

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From sexual attraction to maternal aggression: When pheromones change their behavioural significance, Hormones and Behavior (2014), doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2 AbstractThis paper reviews the role of chemosignals in the socio-sexual interactions of female mice, and reports two experiments testing the role of pup-derived chemosignals and the male sexual pheromone darcin in inducing and promoting maternal aggression. Female mice are attracted to urine-borne male pheromones. Volatile and non-volatile urine fractions have been proposed to contain olfactory and vomeronasal pheromones. In particular, the male-specific major urinary protein (MUP) MUP20, darcin, has been shown to be rewarding and attractive to females. Non-urinary male chemosignals, such as the lacrimal protein ESP1, promote lordosis in female mice, but its attractive properties are still to be tested. There is evidence indicating that ESP1 and MUPs are detected by vomeronasal type 2 receptors (V2R).When a female mouse becomes pregnant, she undergoes dramatic changes in her physiology and behaviour. She builds a nest for her pups and takes care of them. Dams also defend the nest against conspecific intruders, attacking especially gonadally intact males. Maternal behaviour is dependent on a functional olfactory system, thus suggesting a role of chemosignals in the development of maternal behaviour. Our first experiment demonstrates, however, that pup chemosignals are not sufficient to induce maternal aggression in virgin females. In addition, it is known that vomeronasal stimuli are needed for maternal aggression.Since MUPs (and other molecules) are able to promote intermale aggression, in our second experiment we test if the attractive MUP darcin also promotes attacks on castrated male intruders by lactating dams. Our findings demonstrate that the same chemosignal, darcin, promotes attraction or aggression according to female reproductive state.

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Hormonal and behavioral responses of male hamsters to females and female odors: Roles of olfaction, the vomeronasal system, and sexual experience

Cited by 115 publications

References 37 publications

Genomic imprinting mediates sexual experience-dependent olfactory learning in male mice

Genomic imprinting mediates sexual experience-dependent olfactory learning in male mice

The main and the accessory olfactory systems interact in the control of mate recognition and sexual behavior

From sexual attraction to maternal aggression: When pheromones change their behavioural significance

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