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Updated: Aug 11, 2025

Measuring In Vivo Changes in Extracellular Neurotransmitters During Naturally Rewarding Behaviors in Female Syrian Hamsters
Published on: September 12, 2017
Hyperexcited limbic neurons represent sexual satiety and reduce mating motivation
Xiaojuan Zhou1, Ang Li1,2, Xue Mi1
1Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China.
Abstract:
Transient sexual experiences can have long-lasting effects on behavioral decisions, but the neural coding that accounts for this change is unclear. We found that the ejaculation experience selectively activated estrogen receptor 2 (Esr2)-expressing neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST)-BNSTEsr2-and led to persistent decreases in firing threshold for days, during which time the mice displayed sexual satiety. Inhibition of hyperexcited BNSTEsr2 elicited fast mating recovery in satiated mice of both sexes. In males, such hyperexcitability reduced mating motivation and was partially mediated by larger HCN (hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated) currents. Thus, BNSTEsr2 not only encode a specific mating action but also represent a persistent state of sexual satiety, and alterations in a neuronal ion channel contribute to sexual experience-dependent long-term changes to mating drive.
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