Shimura T, Shimokochi M
Department of Behavioral Physiology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
Neurosci Res. 1990 Dec;9(3):173-83. doi: 10.1016/0168-0102(90)90002-v.
Single unit activity was recorded from the lateral mesencephalic tegmentum (LMT) during free copulatory activity by male rats. Twenty-four (89%) of 27 units showed changes in the firing rate during at least one of the three phases of copulatory behavior: pursuit of the female, pelvic thrusting and genital grooming. The activity of 16 units (59%) increased during pursuit of the female, and the activity of 3 units (11%) increased markedly during pelvic thrusting accompanied by intromission. In contrast, 6 units (22%) were suppressed during thrusting with intromission. Whereas the activity of 10 units (37%) increased during genital grooming, 7 units (26%) were suppressed below the baseline during this behavior. The specific firing patterns of the LMT units that are correlated with the particular copulatory movements are a strong indication that the LMT may have an important function in the execution of male copulatory behavior. Some LMT units may mediate sensory information from the genitals that is needed to display a series of copulatory movements. Other units may be more directly related to reflex-like copulatory movements.
在雄性大鼠自由交配活动期间，记录了中脑外侧被盖区（LMT）的单单位活动。27个单位中有24个（89%）在交配行为的三个阶段中的至少一个阶段显示出放电频率的变化：追逐雌性、骨盆推挤和生殖器梳理。16个单位（59%）在追逐雌性时活动增加，3个单位（11%）在伴有插入的骨盆推挤期间活动显著增加。相比之下，6个单位（22%）在插入推挤时受到抑制。虽然10个单位（37%）在生殖器梳理期间活动增加，但7个单位（26%）在此行为期间被抑制到基线以下。与特定交配动作相关的LMT单位的特定放电模式强烈表明，LMT在雄性交配行为的执行中可能具有重要功能。一些LMT单位可能介导来自生殖器的感觉信息，这些信息是展示一系列交配动作所必需的。其他单位可能与类似反射的交配动作更直接相关。
