DEVELOPMENT OF STEROID-INDUCED SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

与其他啮齿类动物不同，幼年雌性豚鼠很少表现出性行为， 各种雌二醇和孕酮后的容受性（脊柱前凸） 诱导成年雌性发情行为的治疗。远程 本申请中描述的实验的目的是阐明 行为低反应性的神经机制 类固醇激素在未成熟的女性。本提案的主要重点 是一个尾部投射，类固醇反应途径起源于 下丘脑似乎介导雌二醇的行为作用 和孕酮，在这一通路中起作用的神经递质， 其他中枢神经系统成分的活动，特别是 起源于或穿过内侧视前区，可能抑制或 在幼年时期，控制它的活动 的组合 将使用生理学、药理学和神经解剖学技术 以确定幼年雌性动物中假定途径的完整性， 调节类固醇引起的脊柱前凸几种神经递质系统将 研究，以确定是否在神经递质系统的活动减退， 认为对脊柱前凸有刺激作用（去甲肾上腺素，P物质）或 被认为抑制感受性的系统活动过度（内源性 阿片类药物）可能是青少年女性不成熟行为反应的基础 类固醇激素。 这些研究的结果将提供洞察力 类固醇激素在中枢神经系统中的作用机制 系统，特别是在青春期的背景下。 这些数据将帮助 建立一个框架，在这个框架内，人们可以研究正常，以及 性成熟异常和/或对雌二醇的反应性， 孕酮在人类和实验室动物中的作用。

Unlike other rodents, juvenile female guinea pigs rarely display sexual receptivity (lordosis) following a variety of estradiol and progesterone treatments that elicit estrous behavior in adult females. The long-range goals of the experiments described in this application are to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral hyporesponsiveness to steroid hormones in immature females. The primary foci of this proposal are a caudally-projecting, steroid responsive pathway originating in the hypothalamus that appears to mediate the behavioral actions of estradiol and progesterone, the neurotransmitters acting within this pathway, and the activity of other central nervous system components, particularly one originating in or traversing the medial preoptic area, that may inhibit or override its activity, during the juvenile period. A combination of physiological, pharmacological and neuroanatomical techniques will be used to determine the integrity, in juvenile females, of the putative pathways mediating steroid-induced lordosis. Several neurotransmitter systems will be studied, to ascertain whether hypoactivity in neurotransmitter systems thought to be stimulatory for lordosis (norepinephrine, substance P) or hyperactivity of systems thought to inhibit receptivity (endogenous opiates) might underlie the juvenile female's immature behavioral response to steroid hormones. The results of these studies will provide insight into the mechanisms of steroid hormone action in the central nervous system, especially within the context of puberty. These data will help establish a framework within which one can study normal, as well as aberrant sexual maturation and/or responsiveness to estradiol and progesterone in humans and laboratory animals.