Response Latencies of Female Rats during Sexual Intercourse

Bermant, Gordon

doi:10.1126/science.133.3466.1771

Cited by 173 publications

(65 citation statements)

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“…Using a bar-press response, Bermant (1961) replicated the ''pacing'' effect in which the latency of the female's postcopulatory return to the male increased as the intensity of the previous sexual encounter increased. Simple mounting was followed by short latencies to return to the male, whereas intromission and ejaculation were followed by longer latencies (Pierce & Nutall, 1961;see Erskine, 1989, for a review).…”

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Sexual Reinforcement in the Female Rat

Matthews

Grigore

Tang

et al. 1997

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Sexual reinforcement in the female rat was studied in a preparation that allowed continuous operant responding for access to a male rat leading to intromission. Experiment 1 used a high operant level nose-poke response to test the possible reinforcing effects of some components of access to a male. A simple tone stimulus used as a conditioned reinforcer and two odor stimuli, target male bedding and emulsified preputial gland, were tested. None of these contingent events altered responding above or below operant level. Access to the male, which was always accompanied by intromission, immediately increased response rate when it was made contingent upon the nose-poke response. Performance on fixed-ratio schedules was erratic, and response rate was low in comparison to typical food-reinforced responding. An interresponse-time analysis indicated, however, that some effect of the ratio contingency may have been present. In Experiment 2, several modifications of the procedure were tested with the objective of creating a more tractable preparation for behavior analysis. Response type and the hormone delivery method were changed, and 2 target males were used instead of 1. The latter tripled the average number of reinforcers earned in a single session. Differences between sexual and other reinforcers are discussed in terms of procedural, quantitative, and motivational aspects of the sexual reinforcement procedure.

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confidence: 87%

Sexual Reinforcement in the Female Rat

Matthews

Grigore

Tang

et al. 1997

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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“…The behavioural mechanisms whereby the female receives appropriate cervical-vaginal stimu¬ lation for induction of pregnancy appear to involve patterns of approach toward and withdrawal from males which regulate or pace the intervals between intromissions (Bermant, 1961;Peirce & Nuttall, 1961;Schoelch-Krieger et ai, 1976;McClintock & Anisko, 1982;Erskine et ai, 1985Erskine et ai, , 1989. When experimental conditions allow the rat to pace her contacts with the male (i.e.…”

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confidence: 99%

Influence of time of mating and paced copulation on induction of pseudopregnancy in cyclic female rats

Frye

Erskine²

1990

Reproduction

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Summary. The present experiment was designed to examine whether changes occur during the course of behavioural oestrus in the sensitivity of the female to copulatory stimulation and in patterns of sexual behaviour which might influence the likelihood of luteal maintenance. Cyclic female rats were mated on the evening of pro-oestrus (21:00 h) or early on the morning of oestrus (05:00 h) and received either 5 or 10 intromissions from males under conditions which allowed or did not allow pacing of contacts with males to occur. During mating, the levels of sexual receptivity, the timing of sexual mounts from males, and pacing behaviours were measured. The occurrence of pseudopregnancy or pregnancy in each animal was determined by examining vaginal smears for 14 days after mating and by examining the uterus for the presence of fetuses at the end of the experiment. At both mating times, pacing of copulation with males increased the likelihood of prolonged luteal activity. However, females were more likely to become pseudopregnant following non-paced mating at 05:00 h than at 21:00 h the previous evening. Of those females receiving an ejaculation during mating, no differences were seen between groups in the incidence of pregnancy. This change in sensitivity to cervical\p=n-\vaginal stimulation during oestrus was not associated with changes in sexual receptivity or pacing behaviour. The ability of cervical\p=n-\vaginal stimulation to induce pseudopregnancy therefore increases toward the end of the period of oestrus, but the behavioural mechanisms which regulate receipt of such stimulation remain constant during that time.

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“…Similarly, intromission during 40 copulation correlates negatively with subsequent appetitive sexual behavior [9,15]. Instrumental responding analysis has shown that females that received mounts with intromission are slower to respond subsequently to a male than females that received mounts without intromission [3]. Although these data are equally consistent with the interpretation that sensory information relevant to intromission could have a consummatory value for the sexual appetite of the females [24,38], the MeA does not regulate partner 45 preference through modification of sexual motivation, because the lesioned females spent as much time nose poking as the sham operated females.…”

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The Medial Amygdala Controls the Coital Access of Female Rats: A Possible Involvement of Emotional Responsiveness

Kondo

Sakuma

2005

JJP

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Partner preference and paced mating tests were accomplished in ovariectomized female rats 10 following bilateral radiofrequency lesions in the medial amygdala. Open field behavior and passive avoidance learning were also examined to investigate the underlying behavioral mechanism. Partner preference was determined in a chamber located between castrated and sexually active males. Airborne olfactory cues were presented to the female through small holes on the partition. The lesion diminished preference for the odor of sexually active males over that of castrated males, even after injection with 15 high-dose of estrogen. On the other hand, in a paced mating test, the lesioned females without estrogen treatment showed a significantly shorter latency for entering the male's compartment in a two-compartment apparatus, which allowed the females, but not the males, to cross the barrier through a narrow opening at the bottom. However, administration of estrogen and progesterone reduced the effect. The lesion had no effect on emotionality or exploratory behavior in an open field test, but impaired passive avoidance learning 20 capability. We suggest that a male poses an inherent threat to a female. The seemingly incompatible results of partner preference and paced mating tests can be compromised if the male is inherently aversive to the female; this emotional response can be removed by the medial amygdala lesion. [The Japanese Journal of Physiology 55(6), 2005, in press] Key words: female sexual behavior, partner preference, paced mating, medial amygdala, estrogen. 25In the wild rat, sexual interactions are initiated and paced by females in estrus through patterns of approach toward and withdrawal from sexually active males [15]. Although some components of female sexual behavior imply the appetitive aspect, the initiative by females, however, is obscured by male active pursuit when tested in ordinary laboratory situation such as in an aquarium. To solve this problem, several researchers are directing attention to paced mating situation, mimicking wild environment [14, 38]. In the 30 paced mating, female rats can stay a place inaccessible for males and visit a compartment for mating with stimulus males. The situation allows females to regulate their own copulatory pacing without disturbance by males. Pacing behavior, then, is thought to reflect their sexual motivation.Olfactory preference toward sexually active males is also affected by female sexual motivation. When presented odors of sexually active and inactive males, sexually motivated females spend longer time to 35 explore odors from sexually active males. This test also measures female sexual motivation without influence by stimulus male behavior [43].Since the body of our knowledge on neural circuits for female sexual behavior has been accumulated by studying lordosis, a reflexive component of female rat sexual behavior, some researchers start on reevaluation of the regulatory mechanisms of female sexual behavior by means of these test paradigms [16, 4...

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Response Latencies of Female Rats during Sexual Intercourse

Cited by 173 publications

References 3 publications

Sexual Reinforcement in the Female Rat

Sexual Reinforcement in the Female Rat

Influence of time of mating and paced copulation on induction of pseudopregnancy in cyclic female rats

The Medial Amygdala Controls the Coital Access of Female Rats: A Possible Involvement of Emotional Responsiveness

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