Pellis S M, Field E F, Smith L K, Pellis V C
Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1997 Jan;21(1):105-20. doi: 10.1016/0149-7634(95)00060-7.
Play fighting is the most commonly occurring form of social play in juvenile mammals. Typically, males engage in more play fighting than females, and this difference has been shown to depend on the action of androgens perinatally. It is generally believed that the differences in play fighting between the sexes are quantitative and do not involve qualitative differences in the behavior performed. We show that this is an incorrect characterization of sex difference in play fighting. For example, in laboratory rats, there are at least five different mechanisms that contribute to the observed sex differences in play fighting. These mechanisms involve (I) the motivation to initiate play, (II) the sensory capacity to detect and respond to a play partner, (III) the organization of the motor patterns used to interact with a partner, (IV) age-related changes at puberty in initiating play and in responding to playful contact, and (V) dominance-related changes in adulthood in the pattern of playful interaction. Sex differences in the play fighting of rats are due to an interaction of all of these mechanisms, some of which are sex-typical not play-typical, and involve both quantitative and qualitative differences. This is clearly different from the prevailing view that play fighting is a unitary behavior which is masculinized perinatally. Indeed, even though all five mechanisms are androgenized perinatally, the sensorimotor differences also involve defeminization (i.e. reduction of female-typical qualities). This expanded view of the mechanisms contributing to the sex differences in play fighting has implications for both the analysis of the neural systems involved, and for the functional significance of this activity in childhood and adulthood.
嬉戏打斗是幼年哺乳动物中最常见的社交嬉戏形式。通常，雄性比雌性参与更多的嬉戏打斗，并且这种差异已被证明取决于围产期雄激素的作用。人们普遍认为，两性在嬉戏打斗方面的差异是数量上的，并不涉及所表现行为的质的差异。我们表明，这是对嬉戏打斗中性别差异的错误描述。例如，在实验室大鼠中，至少有五种不同的机制导致了在嬉戏打斗中观察到的性别差异。这些机制包括：（I）发起嬉戏的动机；（II）检测嬉戏伙伴并对其做出反应的感觉能力；（III）用于与伙伴互动的运动模式的组织；（IV）青春期与年龄相关的发起嬉戏和对嬉戏接触做出反应的变化；以及（V）成年期与支配地位相关的嬉戏互动模式的变化。大鼠嬉戏打斗中的性别差异是所有这些机制相互作用的结果，其中一些是性别典型而非嬉戏典型的，并且涉及数量和质量上的差异。这与普遍观点明显不同，即嬉戏打斗是一种单一行为，在围产期被男性化。实际上，即使所有五种机制在围产期都被雄激素化，感觉运动差异也涉及去雌性化（即减少雌性典型特征）。这种对导致嬉戏打斗中性别差异的机制的扩展观点，对所涉及的神经系统分析以及这种活动在儿童期和成年期的功能意义都有影响。
