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Related Experiment Videos

Are pheromones their own reward?

D M Coppola1, R J O'Connell

  • 1Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.

Physiology & Behavior
|January 1, 1988
PubMed
Summary

Hamster vaginal discharge (HVD) is not innately rewarding, challenging previous beliefs about its pheromones. Operant conditioning techniques revealed HVD

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Area of Science:

  • Animal Behavior
  • Neuroscience
  • Reproductive Biology

Background:

  • Hamster vaginal discharge (HVD) contains pheromones that strongly influence male reproductive behaviors.
  • Males exhibit investigation and consumption of HVD from both natural and artificial sources.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the reinforcing properties of HVD using operant conditioning techniques.
  • To investigate the influence of deprivation and sexual experience on the reward value of HVD.

Main Methods:

  • Operant conditioning (bar pressing) was used to measure the break point (highest fixed ratio) for HVD rewards.
  • Comparisons were made with water and sucrose rewards under varying deprivation levels.
  • The effect of sexual experience on bar pressing for HVD was assessed.

Main Results:

  • HVD, water, and vanillin acted as comparable reinforcers, independent of deprivation levels.
  • Sucrose rewards showed higher break points than water in undeprived animals.
  • Sexual experience did not enhance bar pressing for HVD, and naive animals could not be trained to press the bar for it.

Conclusions:

  • The study challenges the notion that HVD pheromones are innately rewarding.
  • Operant techniques suggest HVD's reinforcing properties may be limited by learning constraints.
  • Further research is needed to fully understand the neurobiological basis of HVD's effects on male behavior.

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