Martínez-García Fernando, Martínez-Ricós Joana, Agustín-Pavón Carmen, Martínez-Hernández Jose, Novejarque Amparo, Lanuza Enrique
Department de Biologia Funcional i Antropologia Física, Facultat de Ciències Biològiques, Universitat de València, Burjassot, Spain.
Behav Brain Res. 2009 Jun 25;200(2):277-86. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2008.10.002. Epub 2008 Oct 11.
In rodents, sexual advertisement and gender recognition are mostly (if not exclusively) mediated by chemosignals. Specifically, there is ample evidence indicating that female mice are 'innately' attracted by male sexual pheromones that have critical non-volatile components and are detected by the vomeronasal organ. These pheromones can only get access to the vomeronasal organ by active pumping mechanisms that require close contact with the source of the stimulus (e.g. urine marks) during chemoinvestigation. We have hypothesised that male sexual pheromones are rewarding to female mice. Indeed, male-soiled bedding can be used as a reinforcer to induce conditioned place preference, provided contact with the bedding is allowed. The neural mechanisms of pheromone reward seem, however, different from those employed by other natural reinforcers, such as the sweetness or postingestive effects of sucrose. In contrast to vomeronasal-detected male sexual pheromones, male-derived olfactory stimuli (volatiles) are not intrinsically attractive to female mice. However, after repeated exposure to male-soiled bedding, intact female mice develop an acquired preference for male odours. On the contrary, in females whose accessory olfactory bulbs have been lesioned, exposure to male-soiled bedding induces aversion to male odorants. These considerations, together with data on the different properties of olfactory and vomeronasal receptors, lead us to make a proposal for the complementary roles that the olfactory and vomeronasal systems play in intersexual attraction and in other forms of intra- or inter-species communication.
在啮齿动物中，性信号传递和性别识别主要（如果不是唯一）由化学信号介导。具体而言，有充分证据表明，雌性小鼠会被雄性性信息素“天生地”吸引，这些性信息素具有关键的非挥发性成分，并由犁鼻器检测到。这些性信息素只有通过主动抽吸机制才能进入犁鼻器，而这种机制在化学探测过程中需要与刺激源（如尿液标记）密切接触。我们推测雄性性信息素对雌性小鼠具有奖赏作用。事实上，只要允许与雄性弄脏的垫料接触，它就可以用作强化物来诱导条件性位置偏好。然而，性信息素奖赏的神经机制似乎与其他自然强化物所采用的机制不同，例如蔗糖的甜味或摄食后的效果。与犁鼻器检测到的雄性性信息素不同，雄性产生的嗅觉刺激（挥发性物质）对雌性小鼠本身并不具有吸引力。然而，在反复接触雄性弄脏的垫料后，完整的雌性小鼠会对雄性气味产生后天偏好。相反，在副嗅球受损的雌性小鼠中，接触雄性弄脏的垫料会导致对雄性气味剂产生厌恶。这些考虑因素，连同关于嗅觉和犁鼻器受体不同特性的数据，使我们对嗅觉和犁鼻器系统在两性吸引以及其他形式的种内或种间交流中所起的互补作用提出了一个建议。
