Male rat sexual behavior

The male rat's sexual behavior constitutes a highly ordered sequence of motor acts involving both striate and smooth muscles. It is spontaneously displayed by most adult male rats in the presence of a sexually receptive female. Although the behavior is important for the survival of the species it is not necessary for survival of the individual. In that way it is different from other spontaneous behaviors such as eating, drinking, avoidance of pain, respiration or thermoregulation. Among other things, this means that it is difficult to talk about sexual deprivation or need. Nevertheless, studies of male sex behavior distinguish sexual motivation (the ease by which behavior is activated, "libido") from the execution of copulatory acts (performance, "potency") (Meisel, R.L. and Sachs, B.D., The physiology of male sexual behavior. In: E. Knobil and J.D. Neill (Eds.), The Physiology of Reproduction, 2nd Edn., Vol. 2, Raven Press, New York, 1994, pp. 3-105 [13]). The hormonal control of male sexual behavior has been extensively studied. It is clear that steroid hormones, androgens and estrogens, act within the central nervous system, modifying neuronal excitability. The exact mechanism by which these hormones activate sex behavior remains largely unknown. However, there exists a considerable amount of knowledge concerning the brain structures important for sexual motivation and for the execution of sex behavior. The modulatory role of some non-steroid hormones is partly known, as well as the consequences of manipulations of several neurotransmitter systems. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.