Neurobiology of female sexual health

项目摘要 性健康有助于提高女性的生活质量、情感联系和身体素质 快乐，但对女性性功能的理解是可悲的有限的。性欲， 对性行为、性唤起、生理反应的兴趣和意愿 生殖器，和性满足，性行为的方面，促进未来的性行为 兴趣，是女性性功能的重叠方面，它们相互反馈 支持性健康。人类的性行为可以映射到这些结构上，就像 大鼠的性行为，这使得实验性的行为操纵不会是 在人类身上是可能的。PI和她的学生已经建立了增强的临床前模型 雌性大鼠的性行为，其中雌性大鼠表现出更高的性欲，性唤醒， 和满足感。这一新的经验增强型雌性大鼠性行为模型将是 用来更好地了解神经和外周因素，这些因素驱动着高度的性行为。 这项建议的具体目标是：1)确定后嗅觉活动是否 交配时杏仁内侧核是增强体验的性行为和动机的关键 在雌性大鼠身上；2)测试阿片类药物介导的奖赏是否构成对 性经验雌性大鼠的单次交配相互作用；3)确定阿片类药物是否 在性经验丰富的雌性大鼠中，通过评估交叉反应来敏化奖励系统。 交配和吗啡的敏化；4)探索大鼠阴道和阴蒂的形态 它们表现出更强的交配行为。研究小组对性行为的研究方法来自 健康的职位是创新的，将提供更好的神经和生理把握 促进未来性兴趣的系统，以帮助为女性建立有效的治疗方法 性功能障碍。此外，这项提议将增加卡尔顿的研究机会 上大学。本科生将学习广泛的技术，从而 掌握动物行为、小动物外科、免疫荧光、显微镜、 药理操作、数据分析和科学交流。PI采取步骤 为了确保代表不足的人群被邀请成为她实验室的学生研究人员 并在实验室社区内培养归属感。

Project Summary Sexual health contributes to women’s quality of life, emotional connections, and physical pleasure but understanding of female sexual function is woefully limited. Sexual desire, the interest and willingness to engage in sexual behavior, sexual arousal, the physiological response of the genitals, and sexual satisfaction, the aspects of sexual activity that promote future sexual interest, are overlapping aspects of female sexual function that feed back on each other to support sexual health. Human sexual behavior can be mapped onto these constructs, as can sexual behavior in rats, which enables experimental behavioral manipulation that would not be possible in humans. The PI and her students have established a preclinical model of enhanced sexual behavior in female rats, in which female rats exhibit heightened sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction. This novel model of experience-enhanced sexual behavior in female rats will be used to better understand neural and peripheral factors that drive heightened sexual behavior. The specific goals of this proposal are to 1) determine whether activity in the posterodorsal medial amygdala during mating is key for experience-enhanced sexual behavior and motivation in female rats; 2) test whether opioid-mediated reward underlies conditioned preference for a single mating interaction in sexually experienced female rats; 3) establish whether opioid reward systems are sensitized in sexually experienced female rats by assessing cross- sensitization of mating and morphine; and 4) explore vaginal and clitoral morphology in rats that show enhanced mating behavior. The research team’s approach to sexual behavior from a position of health is innovative and will provide a better grasp of the neural and physiological systems that promote future sexual interest to help establish effective therapies for female sexual dysfunction. Furthermore, this proposal will enhance research opportunities at Carleton College. Undergraduate students will participate in a broad spectrum of techniques thereby acquiring skills in animal behavior, small animal surgery, immunofluorescence, microscopy, pharmacological manipulations, data analysis, and science communication. The PI takes steps to ensure underrepresented populations are invited to become student researchers in her lab and to foster a sense of belonging within the lab community.