Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology

2015 Edition
| Editors: Ian P. Stolerman, Lawrence H. Price

Sexual Behavior

Reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36172-2_271
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Synonyms

Mating behavior; Reproductive behavior

Definition

Anaphrodisiac, any compound reducing the intensity of sexual behavior.

Aphrodisiac, any compound enhancing the intensity of sexual behavior or the pleasure derived from such behavior. The term is sometimes used to designate anything that increases sexual urges, like in “visual aphrodisiacs,” referring to sexually exciting pictures or movies.

Lordosis, a concave dorsiflexion of rodents associated with lifted rump and the tail moved to one side. This posture exposes the vaginal orifice and is the basic female copulatory posture in many mammals. The ease by which lordosis is activated is frequently called receptivity.

Paracopulatory behavior, stereotyped motor patterns, in rodents mainly ear wiggling and hop-darting, typical of many female mammals and supposed to indicate a high propensity to engage in copulatory behavior. Also known as proceptive behavior.

Copulatory behavior, the display of reflex-like, stereotyped motor...

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References

  1. Ågmo A (2007) Functional and dysfunctional sexual behavior. A synthesis of neuroscience and comparative psychology. Academic, San DiegoGoogle Scholar
  2. Argiolas A (1999) Neuropeptides and sexual behavior. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23:1127–1142PubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Crenshaw TL, Goldberg JP (1996) Sexual pharmacology: drugs that affect sexual functioning. Norton, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  4. Etgen AM, Ansonoff MA, Quesada A (2001) Mechanisms of ovarian steroid regulation of norepinephrine receptor-mediated signal transduction in the hypothalamus. Implications for female reproductive physiology. Horm Behav 40:169–177PubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Hull EM, Dominguez JM (2006) Getting his act together: roles of glutamate, nitric oxide, and dopamine in the medial preoptic area. Brain Res 1126:66–75PubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Paredes RG, Ågmo A (2004) Has dopamine a physiological role in the control of sexual behavior? A critical review of the evidence. Prog Neurobiol 73:179–226PubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Riley AJ, Peet M, Wilson C (eds) (1993) Sexual pharmacology. Clarendon, OxfordGoogle Scholar
  8. Sinchak K, Dewing P, Ponce L, Gomez L, Christensen A, Berger M, Micevych P (2013) Modulation of the arcuate nucleus-medial preoptic nucleus lordosis regulating circuit: a role for GABAB receptors. Horm Behav 64:136–143PubMedCentralPubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Zhang S, Liu Y, Rao Y (2013) Serotonin signaling in the brain of adult female mice is required for sexual preference. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110:9968–9973PubMedCentralPubMedGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PsychologyUniversity of TromsøTromsøNorway