Neuroanatomy and Neurochemistry of Sexual Behavior

这项研究的目的是确定刺激或抑制性行为的大脑系统。我们之前的资助开始在下丘脑(内侧视前区，mPOA和下丘脑腹内侧区，VMH)和边缘系统(伏核，NAC和腹侧被盖区，VTA)鉴定兴奋性神经化学系统，它们激活雌性大鼠性欲望的测量。这些系统包括多巴胺(DA)和黑素皮质素(MC)。我们还发现，女性的阴蒂刺激会激活性欲望状态，这可能涉及到这些神经化学系统的激活。这项拟议的研究将扩展这项工作，以调查DA、MC和阿片类药物在控制食欲性行为中所起的确切作用。我们还将研究皮质结构，如内侧前额叶皮质，在雌性和雄性大鼠性抑制中的作用。这项研究将结合药理学和分子技术来研究这些通路是如何相互作用的，以及抑制是否主动地降低了兴奋发生的能力。最后，我们将研究雌激素等类固醇激素是如何通过激活这些神经化学系统的组成部分，为性兴奋(也可能是抑制)奠定基础的。这些研究旨在通过检查不同荷尔蒙和经验条件下与性刺激相关的特定神经化学系统的激活，将我们的研究计划带到下一个水平，并开始检验性抑制的机制，以及这些机制如何抑制兴奋系统的激活。

The objective of this research is to identify the brain systems that excite or inhibit sexual behavior. Our previous grant began to identify excitatory neurochemical systems in the hypothalamus (medial preoptic area, mPOA and ventromedial hypothalamus, VMH) and limbic system (Nucleus accumbens, NAc and ventral tegmental area, VTA) that activate measures of sexual desire in female rats. Those systems include dopamine (DA) and melanocortins (MCs). We also found that clitoral stimulation in females activates a sexual desire state, which may involve the activation of those neurochemical systems. The proposed research will extend this work to investigate the exact role played by DA, MCs, and opioids in controlling appetitive sexual behaviors. We will also examine the role of cortical structures, e.g., medial prefrontal cortex, in sexual inhibition in both female and male rats. This research will combine pharmacology and molecular techniques to examine how these pathways interact, and whether inhibition actively diminishes the ability for excitation to occur. Finally, we will examine how steroid hormones like estradiol set the stage for sexual excitation (and possibly inhibition as well) by activating components of those neurochemical systems. These studies are designed to take our research program to the next level by examining the activation of specific neurochemical systems associated with sexual excitation under different hormonal and experiential conditions, and to begin to examine mechanisms of sexual inhibition and how those mechanisms dampen the activation of excitatory systems.