Interruption of the lordosis reflex of female rats by ventral midbrain stimulation

Hasegawa, Takeshi; Takeo, Teruko; Akitsu, Hideki; Hoshina, Y; Sakuma, Yasuo

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(91)90433-o

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Additionally, intraventricular 6-OHDA infusions prolong the average duration of lordosis in rats in the presence and in the absence of P 4 [47]. Electrical stimulation of the VTA inhibits lordosis of EB-primed, ovx rats [60]. In sum, the present and previous work, suggest a role for midbrain DA to modulate sexual behavior of female rodents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Fewer control animals were utilized as there was no indication of differences between them, such that data from control groups were combined. Briefly, rats were anesthetized with Rompun (12 mg/kg; Bayer Corp., Shawnee Mission, KS) and Ketaset (80 mg/kg; Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA), placed in a stereotaxic apparatus and infused with 4 μg of 6-OHDA base (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO) or 1 μl saline (over a 1min period) via a Hamilton microsyringe (needle outer diameter 0.25 mm; Reno, NV) at one of the following coordinates: VTA, AP-5.3, ML ±0.4, DV –7.0; NAc, AP +1.7, ML ±2.0, DV –4.0; or CN, AP +1.0, ML ±2.4, DV –4.0 [60,61]. Hamsters were anesthetized with Nembutal (75 mg/kg; Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL), placed in a stereotaxic apparatus and infused with 4 μg of 6-OHDA base (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO) or saline vehicle (1 μl) over a 1min period, via a Hamilton syringe (outer diameter 0.25 mm) at one of the following coordinates: VTA, AP-2.8, ML ±0.3, DV –7.8; NAc, AP +0.8, ML ±1.6, DV –3.5; or CN, AP +0.3, ML ±2.0, DV –3.5 [62,63].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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6-Hydroxydopamine lesions enhance progesterone-facilitated lordosis of rats and hamsters, independent of effects on motor behavior

Frye

Petralia

Rhodes

et al. 2010

Physiology & Behavior

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The Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) is an important brain area for progesterone (P4)'s effects to facilitate female sexual behavior of rodents. We investigated the importance of dopaminergic neurons in the VTA, and two dopaminergic projection sites, the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc), and Caudate Nucleus of the Striatum (CN), in modulating P4-facilitated sex and motor behavior. Ovariectomized (ovx) rats and hamsters, administered estradiol benzoate (10 μg) and P4 (0, 50, 100, 200, or 500 μg), were tested for motor behavior in a chamber that automatically records horizontal beam breaks, and for sexual behavior in response to a sexually-experienced male. Animals were tested once a week until each P4 dosage was received; animals then had bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or sham lesions to the VTA, NAc, or CN and were re-tested at each P4 dosage on subsequent weeks. Fixed brains were stained with cresyl violet and processed for dopamine transporter (DAT) immunoreactivity. The number of cresyl violet stained cells was significantly lower in all 6-OHDA infusion sites compared to non-6-OHDA infusion sites of rats and hamsters. Also, in rats, the number of DAT-immunoreactive neurons was lower in all 6-OHDA infusion sites compared to non-6-OHDA infusion sites. In rats, 6-OHDA but not sham, lesions to the VTA, NAc, or CN produced P4-dependent increases in lordosis quotients and resulted in modest increases in motor behavior. In hamsters, 6-OHDA, but not sham, lesions to the VTA, NAc, or CN produced P4-dependent increases in total lordosis durations and produced modest decreases in motor behavior. This suggests that the dopaminergic output neurons of midbrain VTA may play an important role in modulation of P4-facilitated sexual lordosis among rodents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

6-Hydroxydopamine lesions enhance progesterone-facilitated lordosis of rats and hamsters, independent of effects on motor behavior

Frye

Petralia

Rhodes

et al. 2010

Physiology & Behavior

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“…POA lesion abolishes proceptivity, while it promotes the lordosis reflex, the major component of receptive behavior, in estrous females 2,8 . The POA inhibits the receptivity with its dense projection to the ventral tegmental area 9 . Increased locomotor activity in female mice 10 or rats 11 in estrus suggests involvement of POA efferent to the midbrain locomotor region 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Substrates for Sexual Preference and Motivation in the Female and Male Rat

Sakuma

2008

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Rodents identify a mating partner by using olfactory cues. Female rats in estrus spend a longer time sniffing odors of sexually active males when physical contacts are hampered. Sexually active males are attracted by odors of receptive females. The preference in either sex disappears when the subjects are gonadectomized, an effect reversible by supplement with estrogen or testosterone. Thus, circulating sex steroids determine the odor preference in both sexes. In both sexes, olfactory cues get to the basal forebrain; this area includes the preoptic area (POA), substantia innominata and accumbens, structures with estrogen receptor-positive neurons. In estrous females, neurons in the POA are activated during precopulatory motivational behavior. Lesion in this area practically eliminates sexual preference and diminishes the motivation. An increase in locomotion in females in estrus, which apparently depends on estrogen-sensitive POA projections to the midbrain locomotor region, has been considered to embody enhanced sexual motivation.

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“…The VTA is located in the midbrain and sends dopaminergic projections to the NAcc and releases dopamine in response to certain stimuli such as sex, food, or drugs of abuse (Fallon and Moore, 1978;Le Moal and Simon, 1991). Functional studies have also shown that the VTA is important for regulating reproductive behavior, pain sensitivity, and parental behavior (Table 1) (Brackett and Edwards, 1984;Sirinathsinghji et al, 1986;Hansen et al, 1991;Hasegawa, 1991;Sotres-Bayon, 2001). Specification and maintenance of the midbrain dopaminergic neurons have received much attention due to the involvement of the substantia nigra (A9 group) in the development of Parkinson's disease (reviewed in Smidt and Burbach, 2007), and the genes underlying the specification of the substantia nigra and the VTA are remarkably similar.…”

Section: Ventral Tegmental Area (Vta) Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis

O’Connell

Hofmann

2011

J of Comparative Neurology

851

879

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All animals evaluate the salience of external stimuli and integrate them with internal physiological information into adaptive behavior. Natural and sexual selection impinge on these processes, yet our understanding of behavioral decision-making mechanisms and their evolution is still very limited. Insights from mammals indicate that two neural circuits are of crucial importance in this context: the social behavior network and the mesolimbic reward system. Here we review evidence from neurochemical, tract-tracing, developmental, and functional lesion/stimulation studies that delineates homology relationships for most of the nodes of these two circuits across the five major vertebrate lineages: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and teleost fish. We provide for the first time a comprehensive comparative analysis of the two neural circuits and conclude that they were already present in early vertebrates. We also propose that these circuits form a larger social decision-making (SDM) network that regulates adaptive behavior. Our synthesis thus provides an important foundation for understanding the evolution of the neural mechanisms underlying reward processing and behavioral regulation. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:3599-3639, 2011. INDEXING TERMS: social behavior; comparative neuroanatomy; amphibian; reptile; bird; teleost; reward system; social behavior network; limbic system; neural circuitsThroughout their lives, all animals constantly face situations that provide either challenges (e.g., aggression, predation) or opportunities (e.g., reproduction, foraging, habitat selection) (for a detailed review, see O'Connell and Hofmann, 2011). In all cases, environmental cues are processed by sensory systems into a meaningful biological signal while internal physiological cues (e.g., condition, maturity) and prior experience are integrated at the same time. This process usually results in behavioral actions that are adaptive, i.e., beneficial to the animal. To accomplish this, an animal's nervous system must evaluate the salience of a stimulus and elicit a context-appropriate behavioral response. Despite tremendous progress in understanding the ecology and evolution of social behavior (Lorenz, 1952;Tinbergen, 1963;Lehrman, 1965;von Frisch, 1967;Krebs and Davies, 1993;Stephens, 2008), it is less understood where in the brain these decisions (e.g., about mate choice or territory defense) are made and how these brain circuits have arisen over the course of vertebrate evolution.Recent research has begun to decipher the neural basis of social decision-making. In mammals in particular, the neural circuits that evaluate stimulus salience and/or regulate social behavior have been uncovered to some degree: the mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network (Fig. 1). It is becoming increasingly clear that the reward system (including but not limited to the midbrain dopaminergic system) is the neural circuit where the salience of an external stimulus is evaluated (Deco and Rolls, 2005;Wickens et al., 2007), as appetitive beh...

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Interruption of the lordosis reflex of female rats by ventral midbrain stimulation

Cited by 21 publications

References 34 publications

6-Hydroxydopamine lesions enhance progesterone-facilitated lordosis of rats and hamsters, independent of effects on motor behavior

6-Hydroxydopamine lesions enhance progesterone-facilitated lordosis of rats and hamsters, independent of effects on motor behavior

Neural Substrates for Sexual Preference and Motivation in the Female and Male Rat

The Vertebrate mesolimbic reward system and social behavior network: A comparative synthesis

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