Balthazart J, Reid J, Absil P, Foidart A, Ball G F
Laboratory of Biochemistry, University of Liège, Belgium.
Behav Neurosci. 1995 Jun;109(3):485-501.
Appetitive male sexual behavior was measured in male quail with the use of a learned social proximity procedure that quantified the time spent by a male in front of a window providing a view of a female that was subsequently released into the cage, providing an opportunity for copulation. The learned response is not acquired by castrated males but can be acquired when castrates are treated with testosterone (T) or with the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol or with the endogenous estrogen 17 beta-estradiol. Only birds that become sexually active acquire the response. Conversely, birds in which the consummatory copulatory behavior is disrupted by treatment with the antiestrogen tamoxifen lose the anticipatory response. These results demonstrate that appetitive sexual behavior is, like copulation, activated by T and by estrogens. This suggests that intracerebral aromatization of T also plays a critical role in the activation of this behavior.
通过一种习得的社会接近程序来测量雄性鹌鹑的求偶性行为，该程序量化了雄性在窗前停留的时间，窗前可看到一只随后被放入笼中的雌性鹌鹑，从而提供了交配机会。阉割后的雄性无法习得这种习得性反应，但当给阉割后的鹌鹑注射睾酮（T）、合成雌激素己烯雌酚或内源性雌激素17β-雌二醇时，它们可以习得。只有变得性活跃的鸟类才能获得这种反应。相反，用抗雌激素他莫昔芬处理后，其交配行为被破坏的鸟类会失去预期反应。这些结果表明，求偶性行为与交配行为一样，是由T和雌激素激活的。这表明T的脑内芳香化作用在这种行为的激活中也起着关键作用。
