Olfactory and vomeronasal system participation in male hamsters' attraction to female vaginal secretions

Abstract

POWERS, J. B., R. B. FIELDS AND S. S. WINANS. O~wtory and vomeronasal system participation in male hamsters' attraction to ./bmc:/e vaginal secrethms. PHYSIOL. BEHAV. 22(I) 77--84, 1979.~The effects of olfactory (OLF) vomeronasal (VN), or combined deafferentations of male hamsters on their attraction to female hamster vaginal secretions (FHVS) were determined using 2 different attraction tests. In the first, FHVS was placed on one wall of a plastic test chamber, while in the second test, FHVS was rubbed onto 1 of 2 anesthetized castrate hamsters. OLF deafferentation abolished the males" attraction to FHVS in the first test but had no effect in the second. The persistence of FHVS attraction in the anesthetized castrate test depended on the VN system in that its subsequent deafferentation greatly attenuated the attraction. When the VN system was deafferented alone, FHVS attraction was significantly reduced only in males exhibiting severe mating behavior deficits. These results are interpreted to support the hypothesis that the OLF and VN systems may be preferentially responsive to volatile and non-volatile odorants, respectively. Our findings emphasize that both the OLF and VN systems participate in subserving males' attraction to FHVS and their mating with receptive females. Thus each chemosensory system may influence both sexual arousal and copulatory mechanisms. HamsterCopulation Olfactory/vomeronasal system Sexual attraction Vaginal secretions CHEMOSENSORY stimuli are important regulators of sexual behavior among a number of vertebrate classes [13,29]. The effects of these stimuli combine with those derived from other sensory and behavioral cues to initiate and coordinate reproductive interactions between male and female conspecifics. There are very few species in which one sensory modality can be singled out as crucial to reproductive activities; however, in some rodents the chemosensory modality would appear dominant. In male mice and hamsters, bilateral removal of the olfactory bulbs eliminates copulation [321. It has been suggested that these mating behavior deficits and effects on other behaviors observed in a variety of species are due to disruption of non-sensory limbic system circuits rather than to removal of the sense of smell [7,14]. Bulbectomy, as it is usually accomplished, destroys the interconnections between the olfactory bulbs and areas of the basal forebrain and brain stem [9, I 1, 38]. This procedure also destroys afferents from the olfactory mucosa to the main olfactory bulb (MOB), connections of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) with the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), the nerves of the septal olfactory organ and the nervus terminalis [2,5]. Although the contribution which each of these systems might make to the behavioral effects of bulbectomy in any species has not been ascertained, recent work in this laboratory has indicated that the olfactory and vomeronasal systerns together comprise an essential substrate in the regulation of male hamster copulation [36,42]. Although deafferentation of th...

Tph2−/− female mice restore socio-sexual recognition through upregulating ERα and OTR genes in the amygdala

“…Furthermore, reproductive experiences have been suggested as playing a role in altering the endocrine status and conferring beneficial changes to females in terms of improving cognition and enhancing some aspects of memory in sexual behavior [ 10 , 11 ]. For example, lesioning the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which is mainly responsible for the perception of sex pheromones, induced a loss of sexual responses in sexually naive males; however, sexual experiences restored such impairment by activating the main olfactory system [ 13 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. In the current study, reproductive experiences mitigated the disruptive effect of Tph2 knockout and may, thereby, have guided Tph2 −/− female mice toward male urine odor.…”

Chemosignals, hormones and mammalian reproduction

“…If only volatile chemosignals are available, removal of access to MOE, but not to the VNO, impairs opposite-sex odor attraction in male Syrian hamsters (O’Connell and Meredith, 1984; Powers and Winans, 1973), mice (Pankevich et al, 2004) rats (Dhungel et al, 2011a) and ferrets (Kelliher and Baum, 2001). If direct contact is allowed, damage to either system can decrease attraction to vaginal secretion in sexually inexperienced male Syrian hamsters (Pfeiffer and Johnston, 1994; Powers et al, 1979) and mice (Pankevich et al, 2004) but not in sexually experienced Syrian hamsters (O’Connell and Meredith, 1984). Similarly, VNO removal in sexually inexperienced guinea pigs leads to rapid extinction of urine investigative behavior (Beauchamp et al, 1982).…”

Biostimulation methods based on chemical communication improve semen quality in male breeder rabbits

“…Urine and vaginal fluid have been widely recognized as significant sources of pheromones across numerous species, attributed to their capacity to modulate male sexual behaviour and reproductive functions [55][56][57]. While previous investigations have indicated that exposure of male rabbits to females elicits heightened sexual drive and improved semen characteristics [26], a comprehensive assessment of the specific female cues driving these alterations has not been undertaken.…”