| Title: | Activation of neural pathways associated with sexual arousal in non-human primates |
| Author(s): | Ferris CF; Snowdon CT; King JA; Sullivan JM; Ziegler TE; Olson DP; Schultz-Darken NJ; Tannenbaum PL; Ludwig R; Wu Z; Einspanier A; Vaughan JT; Duong TQ; |
| Address: | "Center for Comparative Neuroimaging, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655, USA. craig.ferris@umassmed.edu" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1053-1807 (Print) 1053-1807 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "PURPOSE: To evaluate brain activity associated with sexual arousal, fully conscious male marmoset monkeys were imaged during presentation of odors that naturally elicit high levels of sexual activity and sexual motivation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Male monkeys were lightly anesthetized, secured in a head and body restrainer with a built-in birdcage resonator and positioned in a 9.4-Tesla spectrometer. When fully conscious, monkeys were presented with the odors of a novel receptive female or an ovariectomized monkey. Both odors were presented during an imaging trial and the presentation of odors was counterbalanced. Significant changes in both positive and negative BOLD signal were mapped and averaged. RESULTS: Periovulatory odors significantly increased positive BOLD signal in several cortical areas: the striatum, hippocampus, septum, periaqueductal gray, and cerebellum, in comparison with odors from ovariectomized monkeys. Conversely, negative BOLD signal was significantly increased in the temporal cortex, cingulate cortex, putamen, hippocampus, substantia nigra, medial preoptic area, and cerebellum with presentation of odors from ovariectomized marmosets as compared to periovulatory odors. A common neural circuit comprising the temporal and cingulate cortices, putamen, hippocampus, medial preoptic area, and cerebellum shared both the positive BOLD response to periovulatory odors and the negative BOLD response to odors of ovariectomized females. CONCLUSION: These data suggest the odor-driven enhancement and suppression of sexual arousal affect neuronal activity in many of the same general brain areas. These areas included not only those associated with sexual activity, but also areas involved in emotional processing and reward" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Brain/*anatomy & histology/*physiology Brain Mapping/methods *Callithrix Female Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods Male Neural Pathways/*anatomy & histology/*physiology Odorants Ovariectomy Sex Attractants/physiology Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physi;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineFerris, Craig F Snowdon, Charles T King, Jean A Sullivan, John M Jr Ziegler, Toni E Olson, David P Schultz-Darken, Nancy J Tannenbaum, Pamela L Ludwig, Reinhold Wu, Ziji Einspanier, Almuth Vaughan, J Thomas Duong, Timothy Q eng P51 RR000167/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ R01 MH058700/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ MH58700/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ RR00167/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ Evaluation Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 2004/01/28 J Magn Reson Imaging. 2004 Feb; 19(2):168-75. doi: 10.1002/jmri.10456" |
