Article date: 1991/12/20
PubMed ID: 1664729
Journal name: Behavioural brain research (ISSN: 0166-4328)
ABSTRACT
In male rats, ibotenic acid and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid were used to destroy neuronal perikarya intrinsic to an anterior-posterior continuum including the caudal zona incerta and lateral tegmentum. Some lesions virtually eliminated male sexual behavior - an effect most closely associated with damage to the lateral hypothalamus and zona incerta. Many lesioned males who copulated to ejaculation with normally active females showed little or no mating with receptive, but relatively inactive, females. Although it is possible to identify a critical region within the subthalamus whose destruction eliminates male sexual behaviour, sexually-relevant neuronal cell bodies appear to be distributed throughout the lateral hypothalamic/incertal/tegmental continuum.
Author List: Maillard C A, Edwards D A
Publication Types: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Substances mentioned in the article: Ibotenic Acid; N-Methylaspartate;
Mesh terms: Animals; Axons/drug effects; Brain Mapping; Copulation/drug effects; Ibotenic Acid/pharmacology; Male; N-Methylaspartate/pharmacology; Neurons/drug effects; Rats; Sexual Behavior, Animal/drug effects; Social Environment; Synaptic Transmission/drug effects; Tegmentum Mesencephali/drug effects;