Abstract

Fos expression following mating

Ejaculation-subcircuit

Relay of sensory inputs to the MPN

SPFp: Relay of genital sensory inputs

References

Discussion
Board

A large portion of my work has focussed on the question to what extent activated neurons in the circuits underlying male sexual behavior, are involved in relay of sensory information. This work involves the use of combined Fos and tract-tracing studies, in the male rat. Brain areas involved in male sexual behavior form an interconnected network through which sensory information is relayed. Expression of c-fos demonstrates that activation in these brain areas reflects their involvement in different components of male sexual behavior, and is related to different sensory inputs. One example is the pathway from lumbosacral spinal cord to the subparafascicular nucleus (SPFp), by which genitosensory information, critical to male sexual behavior, is relayed. This pathway contains the neuropeptide galanin, and consists of neurons in lumbosacral spinal cord and a medial subdivision of SPFp that receives fibers from these lumbosacral neurons. In turn, this subdivision of SPFp relays somatosensory signals through dense efferent projections to portions of other sex-related areas, that express Fos. In addition, I will provide evidence for the existence of an ejaculation-specific subcircuit within a larger neural network underlying male sexual behavior. This subcircuit consists of brainregions that are activated specifically following ejaculation, and are bi-directionally connected with the medial preoptic area.

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Presentation Number SAcoolen0521
Keywords: mating, c-Fos, spinal cord, preoptic area, tract-tracing