Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute, 100 Piedmont Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA.
Horm Behav. 2011 Nov;60(5):651-9. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.08.018. Epub 2011 Sep 8.
Successful reproduction in vertebrates depends critically upon a suite of precopulatory behaviors that occur prior to mating. In Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), these behaviors include vaginal scent marking and preferential investigation of male odors. The neural regulation of vaginal marking and opposite-sex odor preference likely involves an interconnected set of steroid-sensitive nuclei that includes the medial amygdala (MA), the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the medial preoptic area (MPOA). For example, lesions of MA eliminate opposite-sex odor preference and reduce overall levels of vaginal marking, whereas lesions of MPOA decrease vaginal marking in response to male odors. Although BNST is densely interconnected with both MA and MPOA, little is known about the role of BNST in female precopulatory behaviors. To address this question, females received either bilateral, excitotoxic lesions of BNST (BNST-X) or sham lesions (SHAM), and were tested for scent marking and for investigatory responses to male and female odors. Whereas SHAM females vaginal marked more to male odors than female odors on two days of the estrous cycle, BNST-X females marked at equivalent levels to both odors. This deficit is not due to alterations in social odor investigation, as both BNST-X and SHAM females investigated male odors more than female odors. Finally, BNST lesions did not generally disrupt the cyclic changes in reproductive behaviors that occur across the estrous cycle. Taken together, these results demonstrate that BNST is critical for the normal expression of solicitational behaviors by females in response to male odor stimuli.
脊椎动物的成功繁殖取决于一系列发生在交配前的前交配行为。在叙利亚仓鼠（Mesocricetus auratus）中，这些行为包括阴道气味标记和对雄性气味的优先调查。阴道标记和异性气味偏好的神经调节可能涉及一组相互连接的类固醇敏感核，包括杏仁内侧核（MA）、终纹床核（BNST）和视前内侧核（MPOA）。例如，MA 的损伤消除了异性气味偏好，并降低了阴道标记的总体水平，而 MPOA 的损伤减少了对雄性气味的阴道标记。尽管 BNST 与 MA 和 MPOA 紧密相连，但关于 BNST 在雌性前交配行为中的作用知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，雌性动物接受了双侧、兴奋毒性 BNST 损伤（BNST-X）或假损伤（SHAM），并对其进行了气味标记和对雄性和雌性气味的调查反应测试。尽管 SHAM 雌性在发情周期的两天内对雄性气味的阴道标记多于雌性气味，但 BNST-X 雌性对两种气味的标记水平相当。这种缺陷不是由于社交气味调查的改变引起的，因为 BNST-X 和 SHAM 雌性对雄性气味的调查多于雌性气味。最后，BNST 损伤通常不会破坏发情周期中发生的生殖行为的周期性变化。总之，这些结果表明 BNST 对于雌性对雄性气味刺激正常表达求爱行为至关重要。
