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Sexual and olfactory preference in noncopulating male rats
Wendy Portillo1, Raúl G Paredes
1Instituto de Neurobiologi;a, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 1-1141, Qro. 76001, Querétaro, México.
Physiology & Behavior
|October 22, 2003
Summary
Male rats that do not copulate (noncopulators) show reduced preference for receptive females and their odors, even after testosterone treatment. Feminine hormone treatments also failed to induce sexual behaviors in these noncopulator rats.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Male rats can be 'noncopulators' (NC) without known hormonal or penile function deficits.
- The underlying causes of this sexual behavior deficit remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate partner and olfactory preferences in NC rats compared to copulating (C) rats.
- To determine if hormonal treatments (testosterone, estradiol, progesterone) can alter behavior or preferences in NC rats.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Tested partner and olfactory preferences in intact, gonadectomized (GDX), and testosterone-treated (TP) NC and C rats.
- Experiment 2: Evaluated feminine sexual behavior and odor preferences in NC and C rats after estradiol benzoate (EB) or EB+progesterone (P) treatment.
Main Results:
- NC rats showed no sexual behavior even after high TP doses and lacked preference for receptive females over males.
- NC rats exhibited significantly reduced preference for estrous female odors compared to C rats across all hormonal conditions.
- Hormonal treatments (TP, EB, EB+P) did not induce sexual behavior or normalize odor preferences in NC rats.
Conclusions:
- NC rats exhibit deficits in partner and olfactory preferences, independent of hormonal status or response to typical sexual hormones.
- Feminine hormone treatments do not induce masculine or feminine sexual behaviors in NC rats.
- The noncopulator phenotype in rats is not explained by simple hormonal deficiencies or feminization.
