Energetic challenges unmask the role of ovarian hormones in orchestrating ingestive and sex behaviors
Effects of ovarian hormones on sex and ingestive behavior are well studied, and yet, their role in diverting attention from food to sex has not been examined directly, possibly because these functions are masked under conditions of excessive food abundance typical of the laboratory. Female Syrian ha...
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Published in | Hormones and behavior Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 563 - 574 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Amsterdam
Elsevier Inc
01.09.2010
Elsevier Elsevier BV |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Effects of ovarian hormones on sex and ingestive behavior are well studied, and yet, their role in diverting attention from food to sex has not been examined directly, possibly because these functions are masked under conditions of excessive food abundance typical of the laboratory. Female Syrian hamsters were either fed
ad libitum or food-restricted to 75% of their
ad libitum intake for 8
days and then tested every day of the estrous cycle for their preference for males versus food, food hoarding and food intake in an apparatus designed to mimic aspects of their natural habitat. The food-restricted, but not the fed females, varied significantly over the estrous cycle in appetitive behaviors, which included their preference for males versus food and in the amount of food hoarded, with low food hoarding and high male preference on the night of ovulation. In contrast, there were no significant differences between restricted and
ad libitum-fed females in the consummatory behaviors, namely, food intake or lordosis duration. In ovariectomized females, estradiol plus progesterone treatment delayed food restriction-stimulated hoarding and hastened feeding-inhibited hoarding without affecting food intake or lordosis duration. In summary, energy restriction and the presence of males unmasked an effect that was obscured in the normal laboratory conditions characterized by isolation and an over abundance of readily available food. These results are consistent with the idea that ovarian hormones orchestrate appetites for food and sex to optimize reproductive success under fluctuating energetic conditions. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0018-506X 1095-6867 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.06.019 |