Organization and expression of agonistic and socio-sexual behavior in golden hamsters over the estrous cycle and after ovariectomy

Takahashi, Lorey K.; Lisk, Robert D.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(83)90069-0

Cited by 68 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Normal cycling was insured by repeated testing of females for at least 1 month prior to use of the animals as subjects. We used females that were one day pre-estrous because in pilot studies females during this part of the estrous cycle demonstrated the highest levels of agonistic behavior toward each other (Floody and Pfaff, 1977;Kislak and Beach, 1955;Takahashi and Lisk, 1983;Takahashi and Lisk, 1984). Thus, if females are more aggressive than males they should definitely demonstrate it in these interactions.…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both male and female hamsters have been shown to reliably engage in intense agonistic behavior during same-sex encounters (Payne and Swanson, 1970;Takahashi and Lisk, 1983). Fighting in both sexes is affected by numerous factors, including (a) the hormonal status of the subject (Meisel, Sterner, and Diekman, 1988;Payne and Swanson, 1971a;Payne and Swanson, 1971b;Payne and Swanson, 1971c;Takahashi, 1990;Vandenbergh, 1971), (b) the hormonal status of the opponent (Kislak and Beach, 1955;Marques and Valenstein, 1977;Payne, 1974), (c) changes in photoperiod (Garrett and Campbell, 1980;Jasnow, Huhman, Bartness, and Demas, 2002;Landau, 1975), (d) prior housing conditions (Payne, 1973;Wise, 1974), and (e) the size and complexity of the testing environment (Johnston, 1975a;Johnston, 1975b;Payne, 1973;Payne and Swanson, 1970).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is because few studies have used the same methods to directly compare the behavior of males and females. Payne & Swanson (1970) showed that in same-sex encounters males and females did not differ in levels of agonistic behavior but there was a high degree of variability in female agonistic behavior over the estrous cycle (see also Lisk and Nachtigall, 1988;Takahashi and Lisk, 1983;Takahashi and Lisk, 1984). Since the studies by Payne & Swanson (1970), other researchers have described females as being more aggressive than males.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Dominant–subordinate relationships in hamsters: Sex differences in reactions to familiar opponents

Bath

Johnston

2007

Hormones and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the majority of mammalian species, males are dominant over and more aggressive than females. In contrast, some reports suggest that female golden hamsters are more aggressive than males but systematic comparisons using the same methods for both sexes are rare. We observed same-sexed pairs of hamsters over repeated trials to assess whether sex differences existed in the level of agonistic behavior and in the development and maintenance of dominant-subordinate relationships with familiar partners. There were no sex differences in measures of agonistic behavior or fear responses (fleeing) during the initial series of three trials on the first day of testing. Following a four-day interval, males that had lost in session 1 showed fearful responses to a familiar dominant male and were not likely to engage in a fight with him. In contrast, females that lost the initial fights were not fearful and fought vigorously with the familiar winner in subsequent encounters. Although the amount of agonistic behavior engaged in by females did decrease over the course of the three sessions, females that lost did not demonstrate an increase in fear, as measured by the latency to flee. Males that lost fights did show increased fear during later trials and sessions. These results suggest that female hamsters are less affected by losing fights than males are and thus that females are less likely than males to develop highly polarized dominant-subordinate relationships. Further work is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying these sex differences.

show abstract

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dominant–subordinate relationships in hamsters: Sex differences in reactions to familiar opponents

Bath

Johnston

2007

Hormones and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Oestrus-correlated changes in locomotor activity rhythms have been interpreted as a strategy for increasing the probability for physical contact between males and females and thus increasing mating success. This hypothesis is further supported by behavioural studies demonstrating an increase in sociopositive or sexual behaviours on the day of oestrus (Golden hamster, 26 Djungarian hamster, 27 Mongolian gerbil, 28,29 review 8,30,31 ). For an extensive study on the oestrus cycle of the Desert hamster, Phodopus roborovskii, four approaches were employed: (i) vaginal smears were used to characterize the length of the oestrus stages especially in comparison with other rodent species, such as Golden hamsters, rats and Mongolian gerbils; (ii) serum LH levels were analysed to further verify the timing of ovulation; (iii) running-wheel activity recordings were used to determine oestrus-correlated effects on circadian rhythms; and (iv) pairing behaviour in the course of the oestrus cycle was investigated.…”

Section: -3mentioning

confidence: 72%

Oestrus cycle of the Desert hamster (Phodopus roborovskii, Satunin, 1903)

Scheibler

Wollnik

2013

Lab Anim

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Desert hamster, Phodopus roborovskii, is one of the lesser-known laboratory animal models and therefore knowledge of its reproductive system and physiology is limited. This study investigated the time course of vaginal and behavioural oestrus cycles by means of vaginal smear cytology, serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels, wheel-running activity patterns, and pairing tests. The oestrus cycle lasts between four and six days and follows a pattern rather similar to that described for other rodent species. An important finding of this study is the existence of a fifth cycle stage between pre-oestrus and oestrus, the so-called early oestrus. Early oestrus differs from pre-oestrus by a complete lack of leucocytes in the vaginal cytology and a dramatic increase of serum LH levels just before activity onset. The early oestrus stage lasts 4-6 h, but was not observed in every female. When present it affects the length of the whole oestrus cycle. With early oestrus the pre-oestrus stage lasts only 14-18 h and the total length of the oestrus cycle length is four days. Without early oestrus, the pre-oestrus is prolonged to 18-36 h and the oestrus cycle length varies between four and six days. Desert hamsters showed only subtle oestrus-correlated changes in wheel-running activity, i.e. they failed to show the characteristic scalloping of activity onset, but showed prolonged activity during early oestrus. Pairing tests revealed characteristic changes in the relative frequencies of socio-positive, neutral, aggressive and sexual behaviour during the course of the oestrus cycle, with an elevated level of sexual behaviour during oestrus.Keywords oestrus cycle, vaginal smears, activity, behaviour, luteinizing hormone (LH) Hormonal changes accompanying the oestrus cycle have been investigated in great detail in rodent laboratory animals because they affect the behaviour and physiology of female animals in a complex manner.

show abstract

“…Aggressive behavior was not altered following ovariectomy, indicating ovariectomy does not appear to affect female-female aggression at least during the first week following surgery. The effects of ovariectomy on aggression have been widely researched (Takahashi & Lisk 1983;DeBold & Miczek 1984). Albert et al (1992) found that circulating levels of ovarian hormones did not influence the level of aggression of a primiparous lactating female rat toward an unfamiliar female conspecific.…”

Section: Effects Of Ovariectomy On Female Mandarin Volesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of cocaine on aggression and associated central ERα and oxytocin expression in ovariectomized and intact mandarin voles

Fang

Wang

Tai

2017

The European Zoological Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ovarian hormones, especially estrogen, may facilitate drug use vulnerability in females. Oxytocin is of special relevance to females and an important neuroendocrine factor regulating drug use. Mandarin vole (Microtus mandarinus) is a monogamous rodent, with complex nonsexual social behavior. Here, we examined whether ovariectomy produces effects on cocaine-induced aggressive behaviors, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and oxytocin in virgin female mandarin voles. The data indicate that repeated cocaine exposure increased aggressive behavior and reduced levels of oxytocin expression in the paraventricular nucleus in ovariectomized and sham-operated females. In addition, cocaine reduced the levels of ERα expression in the medial nuclei of the amygdale in sham-operated females. In contrast, cocaine decreased ERα expression in the medial preoptic area and increased serum estradiol levels in ovariectomized females. These results suggest that ovariectomy influences the effects of cocaine on central levels of ERα and oxytocin expression and serum estrogen levels. The estrogen system acts in concert with oxytocin to regulate cocaine-induced aggressive behavior in virgin females.

show abstract

Organization and expression of agonistic and socio-sexual behavior in golden hamsters over the estrous cycle and after ovariectomy

Cited by 68 publications

References 13 publications

Dominant–subordinate relationships in hamsters: Sex differences in reactions to familiar opponents

Dominant–subordinate relationships in hamsters: Sex differences in reactions to familiar opponents

Oestrus cycle of the Desert hamster (Phodopus roborovskii, Satunin, 1903)

Effects of cocaine on aggression and associated central ERα and oxytocin expression in ovariectomized and intact mandarin voles

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About