Vaginocervical stimulation attenuates the sensitization of appetitive sexual behaviors by estradiol benzoate in the ovariectomized rat

The non-aromatizable androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) facilitates sexual behavior in ovariectomized female rats primed with estradiol

“…OVX Long-Evans rats treated with EB + DHT displayed a significant increase in hops/darts and solicitations, which are commonly chosen as the main indicator of sexual motivation and appetitive behavior in this animal setting (Jones et al, 2015(Jones et al, , 2017. In particular, these behaviors are aimed at enforcing the rate of sexual contact, thus reflecting the Interestingly, in our study the positive effect of DHT on these measures was as potent as that observed with P over the EB pretreatment.…”

“…The frequency of partial (hops/darts) and full solicitations were considered as the main outcome measure and analyzed after being combined into a general measure of appetitive sexual behaviors (as in Jones et al, 2015). In unilevel chambers, hops and darts are defined as quick short runs in front of the male (Afonso and Pfaus, 2006), whereas full solicitations are defined as a headwise orientation of the female toward the male followed by an abrupt runaway, regardless of whether the female stays on the male's side or exits through the divider (Pfaus et al, 1999).…”