Bilateral damage to the sexually dimorphic medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus of male ferrets causes a female-typical preference for and a hypothalamic Fos response to male body odors

• Published in: Physiology & behavior Vol. 90; no. 2; pp. 438 - 449
• Main Authors: Alekseyenko, Olga V, Waters, Patricia, Zhou, Huiquan, Baum, Michael J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Elsevier Inc 28.02.2007; New York, NY Elsevier
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain sexual differentiation; Estradiol; Female; Ferrets - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hypothalamus, Anterior - metabolism; Hypothalamus, Anterior - physiology; Male; Mating Preference, Animal - physiology; Mustela; Pheromone; Pheromones - physiology; Preoptic Area - metabolism; Preoptic Area - physiology; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos - metabolism; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Sex Characteristics; Sex Differentiation - physiology; Sexual behavior; Smell - physiology; Pheromone; Brain sexual differentiation; Estradiol; Sexual behavior; Estrogen; Central nervous system; Bilateral; Male; Medial preoptic area; Encephalon; Female; Sexual dimorphism; Body; Sexual differentiation; Fissipedia; Carnivora; fos Gene; Anterior hypothalamus; Ovarian hormone; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Preference; Animal; Ferret; Olfaction; Perception; Sex steroid hormone; Odor
• ISSN: 0031-9384; 1873-507X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.10.005

Abstract Previous studies showed that bilateral lesions of the male ferret's preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (POA/AH), centered in the sexually dimorphic nuclei present in this region, caused subjects to seek out a same-sex male, as opposed to a female conspecific. Male subjects with POA/AH lesions (which were also castrated and given estradiol) displayed female-typical receptive behavior in response to neck gripping by a stimulus male, implying that subjects' approaches to a same-sex conspecific were sexually motivated. We asked whether the effect of POA/AH lesions on males' partner preference reflects a shift in the central processing of body odorant cues so that males come to display a female-typical preference to approach male body odorants. Sexually experienced male ferrets in which electrolytic lesions of the POA/AH caused bilateral damage to the sexually dimorphic male nucleus (MN) resembled sham-operated females by preferring to approach body odors emitted from anesthetized male as opposed to female stimulus ferrets confined in the goal boxes of a Y-maze. This lesion-induced shift in odor preference was correlated with a significant increase in the ability of soiled male bedding to induce a Fos response in the medial POA of males with bilateral damage to the MN-POA/AH. No such partner preference or neural Fos responses were seen in sham-operated males or in other groups of males with POA/AH lesions that either caused unilateral damage or no damage to the MN-POA/AH. Male-typical hypothalamic processing of conspecifics' body odorants may determine males' normal preference to seek out odors emitted by female conspecifics, leading to mating and successful reproduction.