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Updated: May 26, 2026

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Published on: October 13, 2018
Psychoendocrine correlates of sociosexual responsivity in older premenopausal primates
Abstract:
Cycling older premenopausal female bonnet macaques (17 to 18 years) show decreased attractivity (mounting indices) and responsivity to males in short-term pair-testing compared to younger, fully mature cycling females (9 to 13 years). Comparison of age-group mean circulating levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone during four phases of the menstrual cycle shows a significant decrement in older females only in the height of the estrogen surge during the periovulatory (estrous) phase of the cycle. Supplementation of older females with an estradiol + testosterone preparation (Deladumone, Squibb) did not restore behavioral sexual interaction to the level of younger females. The data suggest a gradual decline in sexual responsivity or arousal in older females which precedes the major endocrine changes of menopause. Such a lowering of responsivity appears comparable to that observed in aging (albeit sexually functional) human males.
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