Deficit in the lordosis reflex of female rats caused by lesions in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus - PubMed (original) (raw)

• PMID: 469716
• PMCID: PMC1281422

Deficit in the lordosis reflex of female rats caused by lesions in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus

D W Pfaff et al. J Physiol. 1979 Mar.

Abstract

1. The effect of electrolytic lesions of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (v.m.n.) on the lordosis reflex has been investigated on ovariectomized female rats. Lesions were made through chronically implanted platinum-iridium electrodes. 2. V.m.n. lesions did not disrupt lordosis immediately, but induced a gradual decline in the reflex. Lordosis performance reached it minimum no less than 12 hr after the lesion, and typically after 36--60 hr. 3. The magnitude of the lordosis deficit was related to the amount of v.m.n. damage. Destruction of other hypothalamic regions was without appreciable relation to the deficit. Within v.m.n., lesion size in the lateral, but not medial portion was significantly correlated with lordosis deficit. 4. Because of the slow time courses of v.m.n. lesions and stimulation (Pfaff & Sakuma, 1978) effects, it is postulated that the v.m.n. is not part of the direct reflex-arc for lordosis. Rather, neurones in v.m.n. are likely to exert a tonic hormone-dependent bias on brain stem reflex paths for this behaviour.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

• Facilitation of the lordosis reflex of female rats from the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus.
  Pfaff DW, Sakuma Y. Pfaff DW, et al. J Physiol. 1979 Mar;288:189-202. J Physiol. 1979. PMID: 469715 Free PMC article.
• Hypothalamic grafts induce the recovery of lordosis in female hamsters with lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus.
  Bartholomew MB, Floody OR. Bartholomew MB, et al. Horm Behav. 1997 Dec;32(3):192-200. doi: 10.1006/hbeh.1997.1421. Horm Behav. 1997. PMID: 9454670
• Accumbens lesion in female rats increases mount rejection without modifying lordosis.
  Rivas FJ, Mir D. Rivas FJ, et al. Rev Esp Fisiol. 1991 Mar;47(1):1-6. Rev Esp Fisiol. 1991. PMID: 1871414
• Lordosis as a sexually dimorphic neural function.
  Harlan RE, Shivers BD, Pfaff DW. Harlan RE, et al. Prog Brain Res. 1984;61:239-55. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(08)64439-8. Prog Brain Res. 1984. PMID: 6098919 Review. No abstract available.
• Elevation in hypothalamic cyclic AMP as a common factor in the facilitation of lordosis in rodents: a working hypothesis.
  Beyer C, González-Mariscal G. Beyer C, et al. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1986;474:270-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1986.tb28018.x. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1986. PMID: 3034114 Review. No abstract available.

Cited by

• Identification of neural circuits involved in female genital responses in the rat: a dual virus and anterograde tracing study.
  Marson L, Murphy AZ. Marson L, et al. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2006 Aug;291(2):R419-28. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00864.2005. Epub 2006 Feb 16. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2006. PMID: 16914428 Free PMC article.
• Cellular mechanisms of estradiol-mediated sexual differentiation of the brain.
  Wright CL, Schwarz JS, Dean SL, McCarthy MM. Wright CL, et al. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Sep;21(9):553-61. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2010.05.004. Epub 2010 Jun 16. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2010. PMID: 20813326 Free PMC article. Review.
• Influences of neonatal gonadectomy or androgen exposure on the sexual differentiation of the rat ventromedial hypothalamus.
  Sakuma Y. Sakuma Y. J Physiol. 1984 Apr;349:273-86. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1984.sp015156. J Physiol. 1984. PMID: 6737296 Free PMC article.
• Sim1 Neurons Are Sufficient for MC4R-Mediated Sexual Function in Male Mice.
  Semple E, Hill JW. Semple E, et al. Endocrinology. 2018 Jan 1;159(1):439-449. doi: 10.1210/en.2017-00488. Endocrinology. 2018. PMID: 29059347 Free PMC article.
• Nuclear Thimet oligopeptidase is coexpressed with oestrogen receptor alpha in hypothalamic cells and regulated by oestradiol in female mice.
  Cyr NE, Kua LH, Bruce LA, Chadwick JG, Tetel MJ, Wolfson AJ. Cyr NE, et al. J Neuroendocrinol. 2010 Aug;22(8):936-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2010.02009.x. Epub 2010 Apr 23. J Neuroendocrinol. 2010. PMID: 20456597 Free PMC article.

References

1. 1. J Physiol. 1964 Aug;172:383-92 - PubMed
2. 1. J Physiol. 1963 Apr;166:395-407 - PubMed
3. 1. J Reprod Fertil. 1963 Feb;5:23-40 - PubMed
4. 1. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1950 Nov;137(889):535-49 - PubMed
5. 1. J Physiol. 1979 Mar;288:189-202 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • PubMed Central
  • Wiley