Van Furth W R, Van Ree J M
Department of Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neurosciences, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Physiol Behav. 1996 Sep;60(3):999-1005. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(96)00010-8.
Level-changing behavior is a form of anticipatory behavior of a male rat, when tested in a bilevel testbox. The male explores the testcage prior to introduction of a female. The female is introduced after 5 min. The number of level changes displayed by the male in this period reflects appetitive aspects of sexual behavior and it was suggested that analysis of this level-changing behavior may function as assessment of sexual motivation. In this study the increase of anticipatory level changes over repeated weekly tests was dependent upon (sexual) olfactory stimulation. The number of anticipatory level changes was reliably reduced by administration of the opioid antagonist naloxone, suggesting that endogenous opioids facilitate this behavior. These results suggest that the increase of anticipatory level changes over repeated tests is a response to olfactory stimuli and reflects appetitive aspects of sexual behavior, which are stimulated by endogenous opioids. These results are in accordance with the concept that analysis of anticipatory level-changing behavior can be used to assess sexual motivation.
在双水平测试箱中进行测试时，水平变化行为是雄性大鼠预期行为的一种形式。在引入雌性大鼠之前，雄性大鼠会探索测试笼。5分钟后引入雌性大鼠。在此期间雄性大鼠表现出的水平变化次数反映了性行为的欲求方面，有人认为对这种水平变化行为的分析可能起到评估性动机的作用。在本研究中，每周重复测试时预期水平变化的增加依赖于（性）嗅觉刺激。给予阿片类拮抗剂纳洛酮可可靠地减少预期水平变化的次数，这表明内源性阿片类物质促进了这种行为。这些结果表明，重复测试时预期水平变化的增加是对嗅觉刺激的反应，反映了性行为的欲求方面，而这是由内源性阿片类物质刺激的。这些结果与预期水平变化行为分析可用于评估性动机这一概念相符。
