Sexual module

Steroid Hormones and Neurosteroids. Steroids (qv) can affect neuroendocrine function, stress responses, and behavioral sexual dimorphism (78,79) (see Steroids). Mineralocorticoid, glucocorticoid, androgen, estrogen, and progesterone receptors are localized in the brain and spinal cord. In addition to genomic actions, the neurosteroid can act more acutely to modulate the actions of other receptors or ion channels (80). Pregnenolone [145-13-17, ( ) dehydroepiandosterone [53-43-0] C H2 02 (319) are excitatory neurosteroids found in rat brain, independent of adrenal... 

Outside the uterus, oxytocin has long been known to be essential for milk secretion. In recent years, however, there has also been a growing body of evidence that oxytocin plays a role in the brain in modulation of maternal, sexual and social behaviour. 

Dudley C.A. and Moss R.L. (1996). Signal processing in the vomeronasal system, modulation of sexual behavior in the female rat. Crit Revs Neurobiol 10, 265-290. 

Blount, J. D., Metcalfe, N. B., Birkhead, T. R., and Surai, P. F. 2003. Carotenoid modulation of immune function and sexual attractiveness in zebra finches. Science 300 125-127. 

The queen is usually reproductively dominant within the colony and uses chemical cues as both primer and releaser pheromones to suppress the production or fecundity of other sexuals, inhibit reproduction by worker castes, modulate reproductive behaviors (e.g., inhibit swarming and orient swarms), attract males, regulate worker tasks and worker ontogeny, and produce host repellents in slave-making species. Considering the importance of queen semiochemicals in social hymenoptera, few queen pheromones have been chemically identified. The queens of most social hymenopteran colonies are attractive to workers, allowing them to be properly tended as well as to facilitate the dissemination of other pheromone cues. However, the retinue pheromone has been chemically identified in very few species. In the 1980s, queen pheromone components were identified in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta [91,92], and in the Pharaoh s ant, Monomoriumpharaonis [93]. 

Kranz, F. and Ishai, A. (2006) Face perception is modulated by sexual preference. Curr. Biol. 16, 63-68. 

Keller, M., Douhard, Q., Baum, M.J. and Bakker, J. (2006b) Sexual experience does not modulate the detrimental effects of zinc sulfate-lesioning of the main olfactory epithelium on sexual behavior in male mice. Chem. Senses 31,8, 753-762. 

Wallen, K., and Tannenbaum, P. L. 1996. Hormonal modulation of sexual behavior and affiliation in rhesus monkeys. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in press. 

Numerous studies have addressed the relative importance of different senses in modulating behavior. Mating behavior of domestic sheep is an example. Rams use mostly vision for sexual activity but smell for seeking the partner. Odors are important for distinguishing estrous from non-estrous ewes. In ewes, blindfolding interfered with seeking rams (Fletcher and Lindsay, 1968). 

The following text discusses first the ability of animals to distinguish and recognize other animals by odors without necessarily exhibiting specific behaviors and then the behaviors that are modulated by status signals. Chapter 7 discusses the sexual and evolutionary implications of signaling pheromones. 

Chemical cues attract the sexes and modulate sexual behavior in many or most mammal species. Chemical signals also often reveal the quality and reproductive potential of individuals. In addition to chemical cues, multiple cues in different sensory modalities guide the complex reproductive behavior of mammals. 

O Malley. Progesterone receptor and dopamine receptors are required in CS418 Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol modulation of sexual receptivity in female rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001 CS419... 

Peterson, B.S., Leckman, J.F, Scahill, L., Naftolin, F, Keefe, D., Charest, N.J., and Cohen, D.J. (1992) Steroid hormones and sexual dimorphisms modulate symptom expression in Tourette s syndrome. Psychoneuroendocrinology 17 553—563. 

The 5-HTja receptor was first described in 1981 and is perhaps the best characterized of the serotonin receptors. 5-HTja receptors have been implicated in the regulation of aggression, affect, anxiety, appetite, sexual behavior, and in the control of stress-related disorders [Dourish et al. 1987]. Also, these receptors play a major role in modulating serotonergic transmission. 

Galanin is a neuropeptide with widespread distribution in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Human galanin (4.226) is a 30-amino-acid peptide that inhibits the release of other neurotransmitters and in doing so plays a role in memory acquisition, sexual behaviour modulation, gastrointestinal mobility, and the appreciation of pain. 

Another approach considers the effects of various ligands on their receptors located in the diencephalic and mesiotemporal areas. Cell clusters in the hypothalamus coordinate the normal regulation of the vegetative functions of sleep, appetite, and sexual drive, which are typically disrupted in severe depression. In addition, the limbic area modulates many aspects of behavior and mood that are characteristically disturbed in affective disorders. 

In some species, male variation in response to component ratio offset from the natural blend is somewhat modulated by ambient temperature (Linn et al, 1988). The response specificity of G. molesta and P. gossypiella to off-ratios of pheromone acetate components in a wind tunnel assay was narrower at 20 °C than at 26 °C. In the field, sexual activity in both species occurs at both of these temperatures, depending on time of year. Some field evidence of this phenomenon with P gossypiella appears in the distribution of catch in traps baited with a range of ratios measured at various times of the flight season. Flint et al. (1977) found an evidently narrower response breadth early in the season (when temperatures were cool) compared with late-season responses. In the omnivorous leafroller Platynota stultana, the optimum ratio of its two components for attraction seems to shift with temperature in the... 

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