Sexual Behavior in Male Rats After Radiofrequency or Dopamine-Depleting Lesions in Nucleus Accumbens

Liu, Yian-Cheng; Sachs, Benjamin D.; Salamone, John D.

doi:10.1016/s0091-3057(98)00022-7

Cited by 86 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…6-Hyroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions and DA antagonists in the NAc cause similar decreases in performance on this test (van Furth et al, 1995). Furthermore, 6-OHDA lesions of the NAc delay the onset of sexual behavior and impair noncontact erection in male rats, suggesting that DA is involved in sexual arousal in response to external cues (Liu et al, 1998). These manipulations did not alter sexual performance, suggesting that this pathway is involved in the motivational aspects of the behavior rather than the consummatory phase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sexual Behavior and Sex-Associated Environmental Cues Activate the Mesolimbic System in Male Rats

Balfour

Coolen

2003

Neuropsychopharmacol

165

125

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The mesolimbic system plays an important role in the regulation of both pathological behaviors such as drug addiction and normal motivated behaviors such as sexual behavior. The present study investigated the mechanism by which this system is endogenously activated during sexual behavior. Specifically, the effects of sexual experience and sex-related environmental cues on the activation of several components of the mesolimbic system were studied. The mesolimbic system consists of a dopaminergic projection from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Previous studies suggest that these neurons are under tonic inhibition by local GABA interneurons, which are in turn modulated by mu opioid receptor (MOR) ligands. To test the hypothesis that opioids are acting in the VTA during sexual behavior, visualization of MOR internalization in VTA was used as a marker for ligand-induced activation of the receptor. Significant increases in MOR internalization were observed following copulation or exposure to sex-related environmental cues. The next goal was to determine if sexual behavior activates dopamine neurons in the VTA, using tyrosine hydroxylase as a marker for dopaminergic neurons and Fos-immunoreactivity as a marker for neuronal activation. Significant increases in the percentage of activated dopaminergic neurons were observed following copulation or exposure to sex-related environmental cues. In addition, mating and sex-related cues activated a large population of nondopaminergic neurons in VTA as well as neurons in both the NAc Core and Shell. Taken together, our results provide functional neuroanatomical evidence that the mesolimbic system is activated by both sexual behavior and exposure to sex-related environmental cues.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sexual Behavior and Sex-Associated Environmental Cues Activate the Mesolimbic System in Male Rats

Balfour

Coolen

2003

Neuropsychopharmacol

165

125

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“…Numerous studies have described irregular, low voltage fast activity (from 12 to over 40 Hz) under various behavioral situations of increased alertness [49] or as a response to optimal sensory stimuli, so that these fast frequencies have been considered an index of general activation in animals and humans [50]. On the other hand, the Shell region of the Acc has been shown to play an important role in the processing of stimuli emitted at distance; for example, 6-hydroxydopamine or radiofrequency lesions in the Acc resulted in a lower incidence of non-contact erections (NCE), longer latency to display NCE and fewer erections [30], findings that support the hypothesized role of the Acc in responding to remote cues from estrous females [51]. Fluctuations in circulating hormonal levels during the menstrual cycle are also associated with changes in mood and anxiety [52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, substantial evidence has accumulated indicating the critical role of the PFC in mediating the assignation of the incentive value of stimuli, and it has been suggested that it is in this cortical region, together with other subcortical areas such as the accumbens nucleus (Acc), that the sensory inputs generated by relevant distant stimuli are processed [29][30][31]. For example, studies have shown that PFC neurons show different responses to conditioned sensory stimuli (auditory or visual) associated, or not, with a reward [32,33], and that in response to the presentation of emotionally-relevant maternal nursing calls, the mPFC of Octodon degus pups manifest an enhanced metabolic activation [34], similar to that of human mothers when they hear an infant's cries [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With respect to the Acc, certain microdialysis studies have indicated that extracellular DA in the Acc increases when male rats are exposed to inaccessible receptive females [37,38]. Moreover, recent studies support the participation of the Acc in sexual arousal: for example, 6-hydroxydopamine or radiofrequency lesions in the Acc resulted in a lower incidence of non-contact erections (NCE), longer latency to display NCE and fewer erections [30], leading to the suggestion that the Acc is involved in responsiveness to conditioned stimuli or remote cues [39,40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prefrontal and Accumbal Electric Activity during Auditory Stimulation in Virgin Female Rats: Changes Related to the Estrous Cycle

Hernández‐González¹,

Abascal²,

Guevara³

et al. 2013

JBBS

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The estrous cycle is a physiological process modulated by hormonal changes associated, in turn, with alterations of the attraction or sensitivity with which females perceive different sensory stimuli. Auditory stimuli play an important role in the social interaction of several mammals, including their sexual behavior and the mother-young relationship. Since the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and nucleus accumbens (Acc) had been associated with the processing and assignation of the incentive value of stimuli, this study was designed to analyze whether electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in the PFC and Acc was modified during the two antagonist phases of the estrous cycle (proestrus-estrus and diestrus) when female rats heard sound recordings with different types of cries emitted by other rats. EEGs were recorded in eight female virgin Wistar rats, 80 -100 days old, bilaterally implanted in the PFC and Acc during an awake-quiet state, in three conditions: when hearing 1) cries of pups; 2) cries of adult male rats; and, 3) cries of adult female rats. The cries were recorded from pups (2 -10 days old) and male and female adult rats after gentle prodding by a human hand. Each auditory stimulus (which included vocalizations up to 22 kHz) was randomly played back through a speaker placed near the female rats. Only upon perceiving the cries of male rats did the females in the proestrus-estrous phase show a lower relative power in the 14 -30 Hz band in the Acc and an increased inter-prefrontal correlation in the 8 -13 Hz band. It is probable that these EEG changes are associated with the lower activation or non-anxious state that the female rat presents specifically during the proestrus-estrous phase in response to the alarm cries of adult male rats.

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“…Previous lesion and pharmacological studies reported that various manipulations in the NAc affected latency to copulation, but not performance of copulation itself (Hull et al, 1986;Liu et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Neuronal Responses in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell during Sexual Behavior in Male Rats

Matsumoto¹,

Urakawa²,

Hori³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

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Previous behavioral studies have indicated that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell of a male rat is involved in its sexual behavior; however, no previous studies have investigated neuronal activities in the male rat NAc shell during sexual behavior. To investigate this issue, we recorded single unit activities in the NAc shell of male rats during sexual behavior. Of 123 NAc shell neurons studied, 53, 47, and 40 neurons exhibited significantly changed firing rates at various times during intromission, genital auto-grooming, and sniffing of females, respectively. The two types of NAc shell neurons [putative fast spiking interneurons (pFSIs) and medium spiny neurons (pMSNs)] responded differently during sexual behavior. First, more pFSIs than pMSNs exhibited inhibitory responses to thrusting with intromission and genital grooming, while pFSIs and pMSNs responded similarly to sniffing of females. Second, both pFSIs and pMSNs responded differently to thrusting with and without intromission. Furthermore, NAc shell neuronal activity was significantly different across the different phases of sexual behavior, and the number of NAc shell neurons with delta oscillation, which is related to behavioral inhibition, and high gamma oscillation, which is related to reward perception, increased after ejaculation. Together, our results suggest that the NAc shell is deeply involved in sexual behavior, and changes in NAc shell neuronal activity are related to performance of sexual behavior, encoding cues or contexts related to sexual behavior, reward-related processing, and the inhibition of sexual behavior after ejaculation.

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Sexual Behavior in Male Rats After Radiofrequency or Dopamine-Depleting Lesions in Nucleus Accumbens

Cited by 86 publications

References 42 publications

Sexual Behavior and Sex-Associated Environmental Cues Activate the Mesolimbic System in Male Rats

Sexual Behavior and Sex-Associated Environmental Cues Activate the Mesolimbic System in Male Rats

Prefrontal and Accumbal Electric Activity during Auditory Stimulation in Virgin Female Rats: Changes Related to the Estrous Cycle

Neuronal Responses in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell during Sexual Behavior in Male Rats

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