Mesencephalic participation in the control of sexual behavior in the female rat.

Electric stimuli applied to both pudendal nerves evoked field potentials, unit responses, and multiunit responses in the ventrolateral midbrain, in and around the peripeduncular nucleus. Bilateral lesions placed in this region suppressed sexual behavioral responses (lordosis and courting behavior) of ovariectomized rats primed with 5, 10, 100, and 1,000 microgram of estradiol benzoate and 2 mg of progesterone per kilogram of body weight. It is proposed that the region in question represents a relay station for the integration of sensory and endocrine information concerned in the control of receptive sexual behavior in the female rat.