Prior sexual experience increases hippocampal cell proliferation and decreases risk assessment behavior in response to acute predator odor stress in the male rat
Open accessAbstract
Acute exposure to the predator odor trimethylthiazoline (TMT) induces defensive behavior in the male rat, and this response is associated with a decrease in cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Sexual experience appears to be protective, as it exerts anxiolytic-like effects and sustains gonadal function in the face of stress. To examine the influence of sexual experience on subsequent stress-induced defensive behavior and cell proliferation in the hippocampus we exposed adult male rats to TMT odor with or without prior exposure to sexually receptive female rats. A subset of rats was injected with the DNA-synthesis marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU; 200 mg/kg) during TMT exposure and perfused 24 h later to provide an index of cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus. In response to TMT, sexual experience reduced the duration of stretched attend postures, but had no significant effect on defensive burying. Furthermore, TMT induced a significant increase in cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus, but only in males with sexual experience. The results demonstrate an influence of socio-sexual experience on the magnitude of the behavioral and neural responses to predator odor stress.
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Dendritic spine density is altered in both the mPFC and hippocampus of male rats following sexual activity.
“Additionally, dendritic spine density, a measure of neuroplasticity, is altered in both the mPFC and hippocampus of male rats following sexual activity, suggesting a potential mechanism for strengthening the association between memories of partner cues and reward [127,128].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [128]
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Self-citationTestosterone increases analgesia, anxiolysis, and cognitive performance of male rats
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The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives
Blumenthal, S. A., & Young, L. J. (2023) · Biology · doi:10.3390/biology12060844 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
- Authors
- Spritzer, M. D., Weinberg, A., Viau, V., & Galea, L. A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Galea, Liisa A.M.
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-06
- Volume
- 200
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 106-112
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1983052120
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 0.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- cIRcle (University of British Columbia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Open Collections
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- sexual experience, hippocampal cell proliferation, dentate gyrus, risk assessment behavior, defensive behavior, burying behavior, anxiolytic effects, gonadal function, male rats
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Bromodeoxyuridine, Cell Count, Competitive Behavior, Female, Hippocampus, Male, Odorants, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological, Testosterone, Thiazoles, Risk Assessment, Rats, Long-Evans, Cell Proliferation, Rats
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