Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Amphetamine pretreatment facilitates appetitive sexual behaviors in the female rat

  • Original Investigation
  • Published:
Psychopharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rationale

Intermittent treatment of rats with psychomotor stimulants induces behavioral sensitization to their motor-stimulating effects. This sensitization involves an increase in mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine release, and in male rats, facilitates sexual behavior.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of repeated injections of d-amphetamine on appetitive and consummatory sexual behaviors in female rats.

Materials and methods

Sexually experienced or naïve females were injected with either d-amphetamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline every other day for three injections each. After each amphetamine injection, females were placed either in a bilevel testing chamber or in their home cages. After saline injections, females were placed in bilevel chambers. Following a 3-week washout period, females were tested for sexual behavior in bilevel chambers in a drug-free state.

Results

Amphetamine pre-exposure facilitated the display of solicitations, hops and darts, and female–male mounting (FMM), regardless of whether the drug was paired with the testing environment.

Conclusion

Intermittent amphetamine pretreatment that induces behavioral sensitization facilitates appetitive sexual behaviors in female rats, as has been shown previously in male rats. This suggests that the physiological substrates that modulate sensitized responses to psychomotor stimulants also mediate sensitized appetitive responses to sexual cues, including solicitation, hops and darts, and FMM. As in male rats, this facilitation was a direct consequence of amphetamine sensitization and not due to conditioned associations between drug and test environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Afonso VM, Pfaus JG (2006) Hormonal and experiential control of female–male mounting in the female rat. Horm Behav 49:30–37

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Afonso VM, Bablekis V, Pfaus JG (2006a) Sensory mediation of female–male mounting in the rat: II. Role of tactile and conspecific cues. Physiol Behav 87:863–869

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Afonso VM, Woehrling A, Pfaus JG (2006b) Sensory mediation of female–male mounting in the rat: I. Role of olfactory cues. Physiol Behav 87:857–862

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Afonso VM, Lehmann H, Tse MTL, Woehrling A, Pfaus JG (2009) Estrogen and the neural mediation of female–male mounting in the rat. Behav Neurosci (in press)

  • Beach FA (1942) Execution of complete masculine copulatory behavior pattern by sexually receptive female rats. J Genet Psychol 60:137–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Beach FA (1976) Sexual attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity in female mammals. Horm Behav 7:105–138

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn JR, Pfaus JG, Phillips AG (1992) Dopamine functions in appetitive and defensive behaviours. Prog Neurobiol 39:247–279

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cabilio S (2005) Behavioral observation program. Unpublished computer software program, Concordia University, Montréal, QC

  • Coria-Avila GA, Pfaus JG (2007) Neuronal activation by stimuli that predict sexual reward in female rats. Neuroscience 148:623–632

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coria-Avila GA, Ouimet AJ, Pacheco P, Manzo J, Pfaus JG (2005) Olfactory conditioned partner preference in the female rat. Behav Neurosci 119:716–725

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coria-Avila GA, Jones SL, Solomon CE, Gavrila AM, Jordan GJ, Pfaus JG (2006) Conditioned partner preference in female rats for strain of male. Physiol Behav 88:529–537

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Damsma G, Pfaus JG, Wenkstern D, Phillips AG, Fibiger HC (1992) Sexual behavior increases dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens and striatum of male rats: comparison with novelty and locomotion. Behav Neurosci 106:181–191

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fiorino DF, Phillips AG (1999a) Facilitation of sexual behavior in male rats following d-amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 142:200–208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fiorino DF, Phillips AG (1999b) Facilitation of sexual behavior and enhanced dopamine efflux in the nucleus accumbens of male rats after d-amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization. J Neurosci 19:456–463

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flores C, Stewart J (2000) Basic fibroblast growth factor as a mediator of the effects of glutamate in the development of sensitization to stimulant drugs: studies in the rat. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 151:152–165

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kalivas PW, Stewart J (1991) Dopamine transmission in the initiation and expression of drug- and stress-induced sensitization of motor activity. Brain Res Rev 16:223–244

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kiyatkin EA (1995) Functional significance of mesolimbic dopamine. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 19:573–598

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy DF, Debold JF (1971) Effects of mounts without intromission upon the behavior of female rats during the onset of estrogen-induced heat. Physiol Behav 7:643–645

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kippin TE, Cain SW, Pfaus JG (2003) Estrous odors and sexually conditioned neutral odors activate separate neural pathways in the male rat. Neuroscience 117:971–979

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Kolb B, Robinson TE (2003) The location of persistent amphetamine-induced changes in the density of dendritic spines on medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens and caudate–putamen. Neuropsychopharmacology 28:1082–1085

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madlafousek J, Hliňák Z (1978) Sexual behavior of the female laboratory rat: inventory, patterning, and measurement. Behaviour 63:129–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madlafousek J, Hliňák Z, Parizek J (1971) Sexual behaviour of male rats sterilized by cadmium. J Reprod Fertil 26:189–196

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madlafousek J, Hliňák Z, Beran J (1976) Decline of sexual behavior in castrated male rats: effects of female precopulatory behavior. Horm Behav 7:245–252

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mas M, Gonzalez-Mora JL, Louilot A, Sole C, Guadalupe T (1990) Increased dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of copulating male rats as evidenced by in vivo voltammetry. Neurosci Lett 110:303–308

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelson SD, Pfaus JG (1989) Level searching: a new assay of sexual motivation in the male rat. Physiol Behav 45:337–341

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mermelstein PG, Becker JB (1995) Increased extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and striatum of the female rat during paced copulatory behavior. Behav Neurosci 109:354–365

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller DK, Nation JR, Wellman PJ (1999) Sensitization of anorexia and locomotion induced by chronic administration of ephedrine in rats. Life Sci 65:501–511

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell JB, Stewart J (1990) Facilitation of sexual behaviors in the male rat associated with intra-VTA injections of opiates. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 35:643–650

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oldenburger WP, Everitt BJ, de Jonge FH (1992) Conditioned place preference induced by sexual interaction in female rats. Horm Behav 26:214–228

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paredes RG, Alonso A (1997) Sexual behavior regulated (paced) by the female induces conditioned place preference. Behav Neurosci 111:123–128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paredes RG, Vazquez B (1999) What do female rats like about sex? Paced mating. Behav Brain Res 105:117–127

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paulson PE, Robinson TE (1995) Amphetamine-induced time-dependent sensitization of dopamine neurotransmission in the dorsal and ventral striatum: a microdialysis study in behaving rats. Synapse 19:56–65

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paulson PE, Camp DM, Robinson TE (1991) Time course of transient behavioral depression and persistent behavioral sensitization in relation to regional brain monoamine concentrations during amphetamine withdrawal in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 103:480–492

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Phillips AG (1991) Role of dopamine in anticipatory and consummatory aspects of sexual behavior in the male rat. Behav Neurosci 105:727–743

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Damsma G, Nomikos GG, Wenkstern DG, Blaha CD, Phillips AG, Fibiger HC (1990a) Sexual behavior enhances central dopamine transmission in the male rat. Brain Res 530:345–348

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Mendelson SD, Phillips AG (1990b) A correlational and factor analysis of anticipatory and consummatory measures of sexual behavior in the male rat. Psychoneuroendocrinology 15:329–340

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Damsma G, Wenkstern D, Fibiger HC (1995) Sexual activity increases dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens and striatum of female rats. Brain Res 693:21–30

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Smith WJ, Coopersmith CB (1999) Appetitive and consummatory sexual behaviors of female rats in bilevel chambers. I: a correlational and factor analysis and the effects of ovarian hormones. Horm Behav 35:224–240

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Kippin TE, Coria-Avila G (2003) What can animal models tell us about human sexual response? Annu Rev Sex Res 14:1–63

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaus JG, Shadiack A, Van Soest T, Tse M, Molinoff P (2004) Selective facilitation of sexual solicitation in the female rat by a melanocortin receptor agonist. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101:10201–10204

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce RC, Kalivas PW (1997a) Repeated cocaine modifies the mechanism by which amphetamine releases dopamine. J Neurosci 17:3254–3261

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce RC, Kalivas PW (1997b) A circuitry model of the expression of behavioral sensitization to amphetamine-like psychostimulants. Brain Res Rev 25:192–216

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Becker JB (1986) Enduring changes in brain and behavior produced by chronic amphetamine administration: a review and evaluation of animal models of amphetamine psychosis. Brain Res 396:157–198

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Berridge KC (1993) The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Res Rev 18:247–291

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Berridge KC (2000) The psychology and neurobiology of addiction: an incentive-sensitization view. Addiction 95:91–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Berridge KC (2001) Mechanisms of action of addictive stimuli: incentive-sensitization and addiction. Addiction 96:103–114

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins TW, Everitt BJ (1996) Neurobehavioural mechanisms of reward and motivation. Curr Opin Neurobiol 6:228–236

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Kolb B (1997) Persistent structural modifications in nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex neurons produced by previous experience with amphetamine. J Neurosci 17:8491–8497

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roselli CE, Cross E, Poonyagariyagorn HK, Stadelman HL (2003) Role of aromatization in anticipatory and consummatory aspects of sexual behavior in male rats. Horm Behav 44:146–151

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Salamone JD (1996) The behavioral neurochemistry of motivation: methodological and conceptual issues in studies of the dynamic activity of nucleus accumbens dopamine. J Neurosci Methods 64:137–149

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Self DW, Nestler EJ (1995) Molecular mechanisms of drug reinforcement and addiction. Annu Rev Neurosci 18:463–495

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart J, Badiani A (1993) Tolerance and sensitization to the behavioral effects of drugs. Behav Pharmacol 4:289–312

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Furth WR, Van Ree JM (1996) Appetitive sexual behavior in male rats: 2. Sexual reward and level-changing behavior. Physiol Behav 60:1007–1012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wenkstern D, Pfaus JG, Fibiger HC (1993) Dopamine transmission increases in the nucleus accumbens of male rats during their first exposure to sexually receptive female rats. Brain Res 618:41–46

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Drs. Jill Becker, Dennis Fiorino, and Anthony Phillips for the many useful discussions. This research was supported by a Discovery grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (OGP-0138878) to JGP and by FRSQ (Québec) to the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology at Concordia University. Veronica A. Afonso is now at the Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada. Devin Mueller is now at the Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA. All animal procedures conformed to the guidelines of the Canadian Council on Animal Care and were approved by the Concordia University Animal Research Ethics Committee.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, QC, Canada, H4B 1R6

    Veronica M. Afonso, Devin Mueller, Jane Stewart & James G. Pfaus

Authors
  1. Veronica M. Afonso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Devin Mueller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jane Stewart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. James G. Pfaus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James G. Pfaus.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Afonso, V.M., Mueller, D., Stewart, J. et al. Amphetamine pretreatment facilitates appetitive sexual behaviors in the female rat. Psychopharmacology 205, 35–43 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-009-1511-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-009-1511-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation