It is a common belief that male aggressive and sexual behaviour share many of the underlying neurobiological, neurological, pharmacological and neuroendocrine mechanisms. Therefore, we studied brain activation patterns in male rat after performance of aggressive and sexual behaviour and compared serotonergic pharmacology in the same paradigms to delineate possible similarities and differences. ...

Urocortin (Ucn) III, or stresscopin, is a new member of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) peptide family identified in mouse and human. Pharmacological studies showed that Ucn III is a high-affinity ligand for the type 2 CRF receptor (CRF-R2). To further understand physiological functions the peptide may serve in the brain, the distribution of Ucn III neurons and fibers was examined by i...

introduction: gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (gnih) has been known as a key inhibitor of the secretion of gonadotropin releasing hormone (gnrh). ewe has estrous cycles comprising of follicular and luteal phases. follicular phase is in turn divided into proestrous and estrous phases. blood level of lh increases in follicular and decreases in luteal phases. the aim of the present study was to ev...

Estrogen receptor (ER)beta is present in hypothalamic and limbic neurons of female rat brains, but little is known about its regulation under physiological conditions. To determine whether ER beta expression varies during physiological conditions in which sex steroid hormone profiles are significantly different, we used in situ hybridization to assess ER beta mRNA expression in the periventricu...

Prostaglandin (PG)E2 promotes the wakeful state when administered into the posterior hypothalamus, in which the histaminergic tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) is located. To explore the neurotransmitter mechanisms responsible for PGE2-induced wakefulness in rats, we examined the effect of PGE2 on the activity of the histaminergic system and the involvement of PGE2 receptor subtypes in the respons...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) exert feedback regulation on corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in mammals. The nature of GC actions is cell-type specific, being either inhibitory (e.g. paraventricular nucleus) or stimulatory (e.g. amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis). Nothing is known about differential regulation of CRF gene expression by GCs in nonmammalian vertebrates. We studi...

Previous research suggests that considerable species-specific variation exists in the neuroanatomical distributions of arginine vasotocin (AVT) and mesotocin (MST), non-mammalian homologues of vasopressin and oxytocin. An earlier study in rough-skinned newts (Taricha granulosa) indicated that the neuroanatomical distribution of cells labeled for AVT-immunoreactivity (ir) was greater in this uro...

PURPOSE To evaluate brain activity associated with sexual arousal, fully conscious male marmoset monkeys were imaged during presentation of odors that naturally elicit high levels of sexual activity and sexual motivation. MATERIAL AND METHODS Male monkeys were lightly anesthetized, secured in a head and body restrainer with a built-in birdcage resonator and positioned in a 9.4-Tesla spectrome...

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Maternal Behavior: Neuronal Alterations in the Medial Preoptic Area and Suppression of Pup Attacks Lillian Flores Stevens Master of Arts in Psychology, 2003 University of Richmond Thesis Director: Dr. Craig H. Kinsley Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), by virtue of its relationship to various neurotransmitter systems, hormones, and to estrogen in par...

Naturally occurring variations in maternal licking/grooming influence neural development and are transmitted from mother to female offspring. We found that the induction of maternal behavior in virgin females through constant exposure to pups (pup sensitization) was significantly shorter in the offspring of High compared with Low licking/grooming mothers, suggesting differences in maternal resp...