Intromissive Stimulation from the Male Increases Extracellular Dopamine Release from Fluoro-Gold-Identified Neurons within the Midbrain of Female Hamsters

Extracellular concentrations of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens were monitored using microdialysis in ovariectomized female Syrian hamsters hormonally primed with estradiol and progesterone or with a similar regimen of oil injections. Some females in each of these groups had their vaginas occluded...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hormones and behavior 1997-12, Vol.32 (3), p.143-154
Main Authors: Kohlert, Jess G., Rowe, Richard K., Meisel, Robert L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Cricetinae
dopamine
Dopamine - metabolism
Ejaculation - physiology
Extracellular Space - metabolism
Female
female sexual behavior
Fluorescent Dyes
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Male
Mesencephalon - cytology
Mesencephalon - metabolism
Microdialysis
Motor Activity - physiology
Neurons - metabolism
Neurotransmission and behavior
nucleus accumbens
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
Stilbamidines
substantia nigra
vaginal stimulation
ventral tegmental area
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Extracellular concentrations of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens were monitored using microdialysis in ovariectomized female Syrian hamsters hormonally primed with estradiol and progesterone or with a similar regimen of oil injections. Some females in each of these groups had their vaginas occluded with tape, whereas the remaining females' vaginas stayed unoccluded. When exposed to a male, both groups of hormonally primed females showed high levels of lordosis. However, only in the hormone-primed, unoccluded females were there significant elevations of dialysate dopamine during the sexual interactions with the male. There were no significant elevations in dopamine levels in the oil-treated females during interactions with the male. These data suggest that nucleus accumbens dopamine is responsive to stimuli associated with the vaginocervical stimulation received by the female during intromissions by the male. Histological analyses were based on Fluoro-Gold efflux through the probes combined with immunocytochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase. Probe placements in the rostral accumbens, caudal accumbens, or rostral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis were not distinguishable based on analyses of basal dopamine levels, volume of Fluoro-Gold injection sites, or Fluoro-Gold labeling of midbrain, tyrosine hydroxylase-stained neurons. The number of midbrain neurons containing Fluoro-Gold was positively related to basal dopamine levels, indicating that the amount of dopamine recovered from the nucleus accumbens in microdialysis studies is a function of the number of neurons contributing to the terminal field in the region of the probe.
ISSN:0018-506X
1095-6867
DOI:10.1006/hbeh.1997.1415