Sexual Motivation in the Female and Its Opposition by Stress

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences book series (CTBN, volume 27)

Abstract

A well worked-out motivational system in laboratory animals produces estrogen-dependent female sex behavior. Here, we review (a) the logical definition of sexual motivation and (b) the basic neuronal and molecular mechanisms that allow the behavior to occur. Importantly, reproductive mechanisms in the female can be inhibited by stress. This is interesting because, in terms of the specificity of neuroendocrine dynamics in space and time, the two families of phenomena, sex and stress, are the opposite of each other. We cover papers that document stress effects on the underlying processes of reproductive endocrinology in the female. Not all of the mechanisms for such inhibition have been clearly laid out. Finally, as a current topic of investigation, this system offers several avenues for new investigation which we briefly characterize.

Keywords

Corticosterone CRF Estrogen Lordosis Oxytocin Stress 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Laboratory of Neurobiology and BehaviorThe Rockefeller UniversityNew YorkUSA

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