Experiments examined activational roles of gonadal steroids on the sexually dimorphic, calcitonin gene-related peptide-expressing neurons of the rat preoptic area. Gonadectomy of male rats followed by treatment with testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, or estrogen demonstrated that the tonic suppressive influence of testosterone on cellular levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide mRNA expressio...

The aim of the present study was to find out the changes in sleep-wakefulness and body temperature brought about by application of cholinergic agonist, carbachol, in the medial preoptic area (mPOA). Carbachol, when injected bilaterally into the mPOA of male rats, through chronically implanted cannulae, produced a fall in rectal temperature and long lasting arousal. There was temporal dissociati...

This study provides a detailed description of cocaine-and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) distribution and the co-localization pattern of CART and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), somatostatin (SOM), neuropeptide Y (NPY), cholecystokinin (CCK), and substance P (SP) in the preoptic area (POA) of the domestic pig. The POA displays a low density of immunoreactive cells and rich immun...

In mammals, gonadal function is controlled by the activity of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons, which control the secretion of adenohypophyseal and gonadal hormones. However, there are a number of unanswered questions in relation to gonadal function. It is currently unknown how erotogenic stimulation of the genitals influences the subpopulation of hypothalamic medial preoptic...

Given the putative role of the lateral preoptic area as a primary contributor of the cell bodies of origin of the descending pathway linking a subset of lateral hypothalamic and ventral tegmental area reward neurons, the distribution of self-stimulation sites in this structure was mapped in 22 animals using moveable electrodes and threshold procedures. Ninety-seven electrode sites were evaluate...

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) neurons and fibers are located in the anteroventral hypothalamus, specifically in the preoptic medial area and the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis. Most luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone neurons project to the median eminence where they are secreted in the pituitary portal system in order to control the release of gonadotropin. The ai...

Systemically-administered dopaminergic drugs have been found to facilitate sexual behavior of men and male rats. The present experiments investigated the localization within the brain of dopaminergic effects on copulation of male rats. Apomorphine, a dopamine agonist, was microinfused into the medial preoptic area, caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens, lateral septum and lateral ventricle. The lo...