In Vivo Neurochemical Analysis of Sociosexual Behavior

这项研究的目的是了解动机行为（如进食、饮水、攻击和性行为）与大脑化学物质之间的关系。神经递质是神经细胞释放的化学物质，用于与其他神经细胞交流。多巴胺是一种神经递质，被认为与动机和奖励有关。在这项研究中，多巴胺水平的变化与雌性仓鼠性行为动机成分的表达之间的关系将被检查。多巴胺将从大脑的特定部位取样，以确定男性的哪些属性有效地促进了多巴胺水平的上升，先前的性经验对男性的反应有什么影响，以及与性行为相关的条件刺激是否会诱发多巴胺的上升。研究还将确定大脑中释放多巴胺的神经细胞。这项研究的结果将有助于我们理解多巴胺在性行为中的作用。这项研究的结果也可能对我们对药物滥用的理解产生重要影响，因为几种添加剂药物对脑细胞具有类似多巴胺的作用。

The goal of this study is to understand the relationships between motivated behaviors, such as feeding, drinking, aggression and sexual behaviors, and the chemistry of the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals released by nerve cells to communicate with other nerve cells. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter thought to be involved in motivation and reward. In this study the relationships between changes in levels of dopamine and the expression of the motivational components of sexual behavior in female hamsters will be examined. Dopamine will be sampled from specific parts of the brain to determine which attributes of the male effectively contribute to the rise in dopamine levels, what effects prior sexual experience have on the response to the male, and whether conditioned stimuli associated with sexual behavior will induce a rise in dopamine. Studies will be also be done to identify the nerve cells in the brain that release this dopamine. The results of this study will contribute to our understanding of the role of dopamine in sexual behavior. The results of the study could also have important implications for our understanding of drug abuse, since several types of additive drugs have dopamine-like action on brain cells.