Male chemosignals inhibit the neural responses of male mice to female chemosignals

Reyes, Richard; Mendoza, Joseph; Ballesteros, Jose; Moffatt, Christopher A.

doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2004.03.006

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results confirm the absence of Fos activation in central brain regions observed after exposure to estrous female urine in WT and ArKO males [8]. However, several studies show that WT males can express significant Fos or MAPK responses in different hypothalamic regions after exposure to estrous female urine [26], [27] or to soiled bedding derived from estrous females [28],[29]. These discrepancies might be explained by the fact that the male subjects in our present study were sexually naive whereas the males in the other studies [26], [27], [28], [29] were sexually experienced before being exposed to female pheromones.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…However, several studies show that WT males can express significant Fos or MAPK responses in different hypothalamic regions after exposure to estrous female urine [26], [27] or to soiled bedding derived from estrous females [28],[29]. These discrepancies might be explained by the fact that the male subjects in our present study were sexually naive whereas the males in the other studies [26], [27], [28], [29] were sexually experienced before being exposed to female pheromones. It has been clearly shown in male rats that sexual experience with a receptive female may influence the induction of neural activation of central brain regions following exposure to urinary odors of a potential mate [30].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

“…After exposure to the odor stimulus, the subject was placed back again into its home cage. We chose to apply the urine directly onto the nose instead of giving free access to the urine since previous studies showed that applying urine onto the nose directly activated both the main and the accessory olfactory system [8], [26], [27], [38], [39]. Furthermore, we wanted to exclude any confounding effects of differences in olfactory investigation of the urinary odors by the different experimental groups.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Female Mice Deficient in Alpha-Fetoprotein Show Female-Typical Neural Responses to Conspecific-Derived Pheromones

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The neural mechanisms controlling sexual behavior are sexually differentiated by the perinatal actions of sex steroid hormones. We recently observed using female mice deficient in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-KO) and which lack the protective actions of AFP against maternal estradiol, that exposure to prenatal estradiol completely defeminized the potential to show lordosis behavior in adulthood. Furthermore, AFP-KO females failed to show any male-directed mate preferences following treatment with estradiol and progesterone, indicating a reduced sexual motivation to seek out the male. In the present study, we asked whether neural responses to male- and female-derived odors are also affected in AFP-KO female mice. Therefore, we compared patterns of Fos, the protein product of the immediate early gene, c-fos, commonly used as a marker of neuronal activation, between wild-type (WT) and AFP-KO female mice following exposure to male or estrous female urine. We also tested WT males to confirm the previously observed sex differences in neural responses to male urinary odors. Interestingly, AFP-KO females showed normal, female-like Fos responses, i.e. exposure to urinary odors from male but not estrous female mice induced equivalent levels of Fos protein in the accessory olfactory pathways (e.g. the medial part of the preoptic nucleus, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the amygdala, and the lateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus) as well as in the main olfactory pathways (e.g. the piriform cortex and the anterior cortical amygdaloid nucleus), as WT females. By contrast, WT males did not show any significant induction of Fos protein in these brain areas upon exposure to either male or estrous female urinary odors. These results thus suggest that prenatal estradiol is not involved in the sexual differentiation of neural Fos responses to male-derived odors.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Female Mice Deficient in Alpha-Fetoprotein Show Female-Typical Neural Responses to Conspecific-Derived Pheromones

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

An anti-steroidogenic inhibitory primer pheromone in male sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

Chung-Davidson

Wang

Bryan

et al. 2013

General and Comparative Endocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Presence of conspecific odours enhances responses of commensal house mice (Mus musculus) to bait stations

Volfová

Stejskal

Aulický

et al. 2010

International Journal of Pest Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Currently, baiting is the most common method for controlling mouse populations. Behavioural responses to bait stations may affect the acceptance of baits. We studied the effect of mouse odour on the number of entries into and time spent within bait stations under semi-natural conditions. Commensal house mice (Mus musculus musculus) were allowed to choose between two identical bait stations, one of which was scented with a conspecific odour. The donors of the odours were socially experienced or inexperienced male and female mice. The results showed that house mice preferred scented bait stations over non-scented controls. This preference was not significantly affected either by sex of the tested mice or by sex and/or experience of the scent donor. Nevertheless, the preference was especially apparent in males allowed to enter bait stations scented with the odour of adult, sexually-and socially-experienced conspecifics. In conclusion, our results show that not only the bait station itself, but also accompanying social odours, attract house mice, and thus may considerably enhance the effectiveness of baits. Furthermore, our results indicate that excessive cleaning of scented bait stations may decrease the efficacy of rodenticide baiting.

show abstract

Male chemosignals inhibit the neural responses of male mice to female chemosignals

Cited by 4 publications

References 51 publications

Female Mice Deficient in Alpha-Fetoprotein Show Female-Typical Neural Responses to Conspecific-Derived Pheromones

Female Mice Deficient in Alpha-Fetoprotein Show Female-Typical Neural Responses to Conspecific-Derived Pheromones

An anti-steroidogenic inhibitory primer pheromone in male sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

Presence of conspecific odours enhances responses of commensal house mice (Mus musculus) to bait stations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About