Archival ReportLesions of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Cause Maladaptive Sexual Behavior in Male Rats
Section snippets
Animals
Adult male (250–260 g) Sprague–Dawley rats obtained from Harlan Labs (Indianapolis, Indiana or Charles River, Quebec, Canada) were housed individually in an artificially lighted room on a reversed light/dark cycle (12:12 hours, lights off at 10:00 am) at a temperature of 72°F. Food and water were available at all times. Ovariectomized, estrogen (subcutaneous silastic capsule with 5% 17-beta-estradiol benzoate) and progesterone (subcutaneous injection 500 μg in .1 mL of sesame oil) primed female
Sexual Behavior
Prelimbic/IL lesions did not affect any sexual parameter tested in male rats that were sexually naive before surgery (Figure 1D–F). In agreement, no effects of PL/IL lesions on sexual behavior were detected in the sexually experienced male rats included in the conditioned sex aversion experiment during the first trial, hence before pairing of LiCl with sexual behavior (Table 1). Hence, PL/IL lesions did not affect sexual behavior independent of sexual experience.
Elevated Plus Maze
In agreement with prior reports (
Discussion
In this study, we report that lesions of the IL and PL regions of the mPFC do not affect the expression of sexual behavior nor the acquisition of a conditioned place preference to sexual reward. Instead, lesions prevent the acquisition of conditioned sex aversion. These results provide functional evidence for the hypothesis that the ability to make adaptive behavioral alterations is regulated by the IL and PL subregions of the mPFC.
Previous data from our laboratory indicated that mPFC neurons
References (45)
- et al.
Response options and expectations of reward in decision-making: The differential roles of dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex
NeuroImage
(2007) - et al.
Distinct portions of anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex are activated by reward processing in separable phases of decision-making cognition
Biol Psychiatry
(2004) - et al.
Prefrontal executive and cognitive functions in rodents: Neural and neurochemical substrates
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2004) - et al.
Toward a neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Neuron
(2000) - et al.
Limbic-striatal memory systems and drug addiction
Neurobiol Learn Mem
(2002) - et al.
Conditioning and sexual behavior: A review
Horm Behav
(2001) Copulation-contingent aversive conditioning and sexual incentive motivation in male rats: Evidence for a two-stage process of sexual behavior
Physiol Behav
(2002)- et al.
Potential contributions of efferents from medial prefrontal cortex to neural activation following sexual behavior in the male rat
Neuroscience
(2006) - et al.
Subcortical multiple unit activity changes during rat male sexual behavior
Physiol Behav
(1997) - et al.
Interaction of hypothalamic structures in the mediation of male sexual behavior
Physiol Behav
(1973)
Actions of sciatic nerve ligature on sexual behavior of sexually experienced and inexperienced male rats: Effects of frontal pole decortication
Physiol Behav
Lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex and sexual behavior in the male rat
Brain Res
Sexual reward in male rats: Effects of sexual experience on conditioned place preferences associated with ejaculation and intromissions
Horm Behav
Excitotoxic lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex attenuate fear responses in the elevated-plus maze, social interaction and shock probe burying tests
Brain Res
Behavioral effects of excitotoxic lesions of ventral medial prefrontal cortex in the rat are hemisphere-dependent
Brain Res
Prefrontal cortical regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in the rat and implications for psychopathology: Side matters
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Involvement of the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex in the expression of conditioned hyperactivity to a cocaine-associated environment in rats
Neuropsychopharmacology
Alterations of conditioned taste aversion after microiontophoretically applied neurotoxins in the medial prefrontal cortex of the rat
Brain Res Bull
Role of the prelimbic subregion of the medial prefrontal cortex in acquisition, extinction, and reinstatement of cocaine-conditioned place preference
Brain Res
A functional anatomic study of emotion in schizophrenia
Schizophr Res
Sex behavior that is “out of control”: A theoretical conceptual approach
Psychiatr Clin North Am
Prefrontal cortex–projecting glutamatergic thalamic paraventricular nucleus-excited by hypocretin: A feedforward circuit that may enhance cognitive arousal
J Neurophysiol
Cited by (42)
Prefrontal cortex melanocortin 4 receptors (MC4R) mediate food intake behavior in male mice
2023, Physiology and BehaviorDistribution of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in the brain of male rats with same-sex preference
2023, Physiology and BehaviorAndrogen receptors immunoreactivity in the rat brain of males with same-sex preference
2022, Hormones and BehaviorPrepubertal ovariectomy modulates paced mating behavior but not sexual preference or conditioned place preference for mating in female rats
2017, Physiology and BehaviorCitation Excerpt :Impulsive behavior decreases from adolescence to adulthood [45–47] possibly reflecting pubertal remodeling of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as a result of ovarian hormone actions; neurons, glia, and synapses are pruned in female rat mPFC during puberty [48–52]. In fact, female rats with mPFC lesions show less activity during mating [53] and male rats with mPFC lesions are unable to alter maladaptive behaviors during mating [54]. Together, these data suggest that the possible lack of pruning in mPFC in our Prepubertal OVX female rats could account for the greater activity during mating as the impulse to leave after intromissions or mounts may not be suppressed.
The organizing actions of adolescent gonadal steroid hormones on brain and behavioral development
2016, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews