The ovarian condition and sexual behavior in the female guinea pig

Abstract

The character of sexual behavior displayed by the female guinea pig varies from individual to individual and from cycle to cycle in the same animal. These variations consist of differences in the length of heat, in the intensity of the heat reactions and in the frequency of mounting activity (Young, Dempsey and Myers, '35). When it mas found that the ovarian condition also varies greatly, especially with respect t o the extent of general follicular development, the number of follicIes that mature and the extent of rete cyst formation, we became interested in ascertaining if any connection exists between the type of sexual behavior displayed and the ovarian condition, and if such relationships provide clues to the factors involved in the control of the character of heat. For the most part, no relationship was found, but what was observed suggested certain extra-ovarian factors which appear to be important. To the extent it is possible, their nature will be indicated in what follows. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe data have been gathered during the past 5 years when an investigation of the hormonal factors responsible for the

Serous Cysts Are a Benign Component of the Cyclic Ovary in the Guinea Pig with an Incidence Dependent upon Inhibin Bioactivity.

“…Aberrant hormonal profiles have been suggested as a mechanism for ovarian cysts by several authors [6,46,47,52]. In the present study, passive immunization against the inhibin α-subunit increased ovarian weights in a dosedependent manner.…”

THE OVARIAN HORMONES AND SPONTANEOUS RUNNING ACTIVITY IN THE FEMALE RAT1

“…At the time of the observations on the guinea pig, the differences in the responsiveness of individual animals were attributed to differences in the sensitivity of the tissues mediating estrous behavior to stimulation by estrogenic hormones (Young, Dempsey, Myers and Hagquist, 1938). Beach (1942b) in his analysis of factors involved in March, 1945 OVARIAN HORMONES AND ACTIVITY 185 the arousal, maintenance and manifestation of sexual excitement in male rats likewise emphasizes the importance of the character of the soma for the behavior which is shown, as does Koster (1943) who produced an alteration of the sensory-motor system in female rats by the injection of testosterone propionate.…”

Hormones and Sexual Behavior

“…The familiarity obtained with the behavior of the female guinea pig and later with that of the rat and male guinea pig revealed (i) that in repeated tests individual differences in behavior were remarkably consistent and reliable (16,17); (ii) that in the female these differences, except perhaps for the male-like mounting behavior, are not related to the number of rupturing Graafian follicles (18,19); and (iii) that in neither sex are the differences in the vigor of the behavior related to the quantity of administered hormones, provided of course a threshold has been exceeded (17,20). These findings led to the realization that the nature of the latent behavior brought to expression by gonadal hormones depends largely on the character of the soma or substrate on which the hormones act (19).…”

“…These findings led to the realization that the nature of the latent behavior brought to expression by gonadal hormones depends largely on the character of the soma or substrate on which the hormones act (19). The substrate was assumed to be neural (9).…”