Appetitive and Consummatory Sexual Behaviors of Female Rats in Bilevel Chambers

Pfaus, James G.; Smith, Wilson; Byrne, Nelson; Stephens, Gurdeep

doi:10.1006/hbeh.1999.1562

Cited by 74 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Experimental females were vaginally masked to minimize mating-induced changes in sexual behavior [33,34,35], and placed in a 50 × 25 × 30 cm mating chamber with a sexually vigorous male. Total lordosis durations (TLDs), the summed amount of time female hamsters display lordosis during a 10-min test period, were used to quantify the sexual behavior of hamsters [17, 36].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the Ventral Tegmental Area, Progestins’ Membrane-Mediated Actions for Lordosis of Hamsters and Rats Involve Protein Kinase A

Petralia

Walf²,

Frye³

2006

Neuroendocrinology

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Progestin-facilitated lordosis of hamsters and rats is enhanced by activation of dopamine type 1 (D₁) or GABA_A/benzodiazepine receptor complexes (GBRs) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and these effects involve G-proteins and second messengers, such as adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP). We examined whether D₁- and/or GBR-mediated increases in progestin-facilitated lordosis of female hamsters and rats involve the cAMP-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase A (PKA), in the VTA. In experiment 1, ovariectomized hamsters, primed with estradiol (E₂; 10 µg at h 0) + progesterone (P; 100 µg at h 45), were first pre-tested for lordosis and motor behavior (h 48) and then infused with the PKA inhibitor, Rp-cAMP (100 ng/side), or vehicle. Thirty minutes later, hamsters were retested and then received infusions of the D₁ agonist, SKF38393 (100 ng/side), the GBR agonist, muscimol (100 ng/side), or vehicle to the VTA. Hamsters were post-tested for lordosis and motor behavior 30 min later. In Experiment 2, ovariectomized rats, primed with E₂ (10 µg at h 0), were first pre-tested for lordosis and then infused with Rp-cAMP (100 ng/side) or vehicle to the VTA at h 44. Immediately after testing, rats received infusions of SKF38393 (100 ng/side), muscimol (100 ng/side), or vehicle and were retested for lordosis. Rats were then infused with the neurosteroid, 5α-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one (3α,5α-THP; 100 or 200 ng/side), or β-cyclodextrin vehicle and were post-tested for lordosis and motor behavior 10 and 60 min later. The enhancing effects of progestins or progestins plus D₁ or GBR activation on lordosis of E₂-primed hamsters and rats were blocked by the PKA inhibitor, Rp-cAMP. Thus, in the VTA, progestins’ membrane actions involving D₁ or GBRs are mediated, in part, by PKA.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the Ventral Tegmental Area, Progestins’ Membrane-Mediated Actions for Lordosis of Hamsters and Rats Involve Protein Kinase A

Petralia

Walf²,

Frye³

2006

Neuroendocrinology

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“…However, in experiments 1, 2, 4, and 5, in which a between-subjects design was utilized, some rats were tested in an E 2 priming only condition, which provided the necessary comparison data. Also, for experiments 3 and 6, in which there was repeated testing, vaginal masks were utilized to prevent estrous termination [43]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the Ventral Tegmental Area, G-Proteins and cAMP Mediate the Neurosteroid 3α,5α-THP’s Actions at Dopamine Type 1 Receptors for Lordosis of Rats

Petralia

Frye²

2004

Neuroendocrinology

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Progestins have multiple mechanisms of action in the central nervous system that are important for modulating lordosis of female rats. In the ventral tegmental area (VTA), progestins, such as the progesterone metabolite and neurosteroid 5α-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one (3α,5α-THP), regulate lordosis via actions independent of intracellular progestin receptors. We hypothesized that if, in the VTA, dopamine type 1 receptors (D₁), G-proteins, and adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP) are downstream effectors of 3α,5α-THP’s actions for lordosis, then pharmacological manipulations of these signaling molecules will produce changes in 3α,5α-THP-facilitated lordosis of estradiol (E₂)-primed rats. VTA infusions of 3α,5α-THP (50 ng) or 3α,5α-THP and the D₁ agonist SKF38393 (100 ng) increased lordosis of ovariectomized, E₂ (10 µg)- primed rats, compared to vehicle. Both 3α,5α-THP- and 3α,5α-THP plus SKF38393-facilitated lordosis was reduced by VTA infusions of the G-protein inhibitor guanosine 5′-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP-β-S; 50 µM), but not vehicle. Also, in the VTA, blocking D₁ with SCH23390 (100 ng) decreased, or increasing cAMP with 8-bromo-cAMP (200 ng) enhanced, 3α,5α-THP-facilitated lordosis of E₂-primed rats. Notably, SCH23390’s inhibitory effects on 3α,5α-THP-facilitated lordosis were reversed by 8-bromo-cAMP. Thus, in the VTA, 3α,5α-THP’s actions for lordosis may involve activation of D₁ and initiation of the G-protein-mediated second messenger cAMP.

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“…Stimulation of the cervix had been known in animals to abbreviate the period of behavioral estrus and induce analgesia (Crowley, Jacobs, Volpe, Rodriguez-Sierra & Komisaruk, 1976; Komisaruk & Steinman, 1986; Lodder & Zeilmaker, 1976; Pfaus, Smith, Byrne, & Stephens, 2000). In a series of papers, Komisaruk and colleagues found that direct cervical stimulation could induce orgasm in women with complete spinal transection at T10 or higher, implicating the cervix and a hitherto unknown neuroanatomic linkage to the vagus nerve in transmitting pleasurable orgasmic sensations (Komisaruk & Whipple, 2005; Komisaruk et al, 2004, 2006; Whipple & Komisaruk, 2002).…”

Section: Round 2: the Vagina Strikes Backmentioning

confidence: 99%

The whole versus the sum of some of the parts: toward resolving the apparent controversy of clitoral versus vaginal orgasms

Pfaus

Quintana

Cionnaith

et al. 2016

Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology

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BackgroundThe nature of a woman’s orgasm has been a source of scientific, political, and cultural debate for over a century. Since the Victorian era, the pendulum has swung from the vagina to the clitoris, and to some extent back again, with the current debate stuck over whether internal sensory structures exist in the vagina that could account for orgasms based largely on their stimulation, or whether stimulation of the external glans clitoris is always necessary for orgasm.MethodWe review the history of the clitoral versus vaginal orgasm debate as it has evolved with conflicting ideas and data from psychiatry and psychoanalysis, epidemiology, evolutionary theory, feminist political theory, physiology, and finally neuroscience.ResultsA new synthesis is presented that acknowledges the enormous potential women have to experience orgasms from one or more sources of sensory input, including the external clitoral glans, internal region around the “G-spot” that corresponds to the internal clitoral bulbs, the cervix, as well as sensory stimulation of non-genital areas such as the nipples.ConclusionsWith experience, stimulation of one or all of these triggering zones are integrated into a “whole” set of sensory inputs, movements, body positions, autonomic arousal, and partner- and contextual-related cues, that reliably induces pleasure and orgasm during masturbation and copulation. The process of integration is iterative and can change across the lifespan with new experiences of orgasm.

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Appetitive and Consummatory Sexual Behaviors of Female Rats in Bilevel Chambers

Cited by 74 publications

References 52 publications

In the Ventral Tegmental Area, Progestins’ Membrane-Mediated Actions for Lordosis of Hamsters and Rats Involve Protein Kinase A

In the Ventral Tegmental Area, Progestins’ Membrane-Mediated Actions for Lordosis of Hamsters and Rats Involve Protein Kinase A

In the Ventral Tegmental Area, G-Proteins and cAMP Mediate the Neurosteroid 3α,5α-THP’s Actions at Dopamine Type 1 Receptors for Lordosis of Rats

The whole versus the sum of some of the parts: toward resolving the apparent controversy of clitoral versus vaginal orgasms

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