TY - JOUR
T1 - Medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamic lesions in prepubertal male cats
T2 - Effects on juvenile and adult sociosexual behaviors
AU - Leedy, Mitzi G.
AU - Hart, Benjamin L.
PY - 1986/1/1
Y1 - 1986/1/1
N2 - Bilateral lesions of the medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamic (MP-AH) area were made in prepubertal male cats at 6-8 weeks of age. All subjects were subsequently reared in groups containing male and female peers, until the last phase of the juvenile period when an adult estrous female was inserted in these social groups. In spite of such optimal conditions for the practice of sociosexual behaviors during development, no sparing of adult male copulatory behavior was observed in these MP-AH animals during testing in adulthood. This finding, while consistent with earlier work on dogs, contrasts with the results obtained in prepubertally lesioned rats. Urine spraying, another sexually dimorphic behavior which is eliminated by MP-AH lesions in adult cats, was spared by prepubertal lesion placement. Heterotypical sexual behavior was not enhanced by prepubertal MP-AH lesion placement, as it is with postpubertal placement. In the present study, therefore, different behavioral systems influenced by the MP-AH area showed varying degrees of plasticity. As found in dogs, prepubertal MP-AH lesions enhanced and accelerated testosterone secretion in cats.
AB - Bilateral lesions of the medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamic (MP-AH) area were made in prepubertal male cats at 6-8 weeks of age. All subjects were subsequently reared in groups containing male and female peers, until the last phase of the juvenile period when an adult estrous female was inserted in these social groups. In spite of such optimal conditions for the practice of sociosexual behaviors during development, no sparing of adult male copulatory behavior was observed in these MP-AH animals during testing in adulthood. This finding, while consistent with earlier work on dogs, contrasts with the results obtained in prepubertally lesioned rats. Urine spraying, another sexually dimorphic behavior which is eliminated by MP-AH lesions in adult cats, was spared by prepubertal lesion placement. Heterotypical sexual behavior was not enhanced by prepubertal MP-AH lesion placement, as it is with postpubertal placement. In the present study, therefore, different behavioral systems influenced by the MP-AH area showed varying degrees of plasticity. As found in dogs, prepubertal MP-AH lesions enhanced and accelerated testosterone secretion in cats.
KW - Brain plasticity
KW - Hypothalamus
KW - Sexual behavior
KW - Testosterone
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U2 - 10.1016/0031-9384(86)90322-7
DO - 10.1016/0031-9384(86)90322-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 3517899
AN - SCOPUS:0022638035
VL - 36
SP - 501
EP - 506
JO - Physiology and Behavior
JF - Physiology and Behavior
SN - 0031-9384
IS - 3
ER -