C-fos down-regulation inhibits testosterone-dependent male sexual behavior and the associated learning.

ABSTRACT: Environmental stimulation results in an increased expression of transcription factors called immediate early genes (IEGs) in specific neuronal populations. In male Japanese quail, copulation with a female increases the expression of the IEGs zenk and c-fos in the medial pre-optic nucleus (POM), a key nucleus controlling male sexual behavior. The functional significance of this increased IEG expression that follows performance of copulatory behavior is unknown. We addressed this question by repeatedly quantifying the performance of appetitive (learned social proximity response) and consummatory (actual copulation) sexual behavior in castrated, testosterone-treated males that received daily intra-cerebroventricular injection of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeting c-fos or control veh

SUBMITTER: Niessen NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3818384 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature