(046) Signalling the Vaginal Code: A Dual Role for Oxytocin in Sexual Partner Preference and Reproduction
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Introduction In female rats, paced copulation induces a neuroendocrine response that is necessary for pregnancy. Paced copulation is also a strong sexual reinforcer that results in both conditioned place preference and conditioned sexual partner preference. Although the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) controls partner preference formation in female prairie voles, it is not known whether OT regulates sexual preference formation in female rats. Objectives The current experiments tested whether (i) OT is necessary and sufficient to induce a sexual partner preference, and (ii) OT signalling affects the reproductive effects of pacing that are necessary for both pregnancy and partner preference. These experiments also tested whether peripheral or central OT signalling regulates these behaviours by using an antagonist that enters the CNS (Cligosiban, 5mg/kg; CLG) and one that does not (L-371,257, 1mg/kg; data collection in progress). Methods In the first experiment, Long-Evans female rats (n = 14) were injected I.P. with either saline, 20μg OT, 50μg OT, CLG, L-371,257, one minute before their first 30-min sexual experience with a male rat scented with almond. Four days later, the females were given a drug-free 30-min partner preference test in an open field with two males, one scented and the other unscented. The second experiment tested whether OT signalling augments the facilitation of estrous termination that is reliably induced with stimulation of the cervix (VCS). Long-Evans females (n = 12) were injected with either saline, 50μg OT, CLG, or L371,257, 1min prior to sham stimulation or 50 distributed VCSs administered with a lubricated glass rod. Twelve hr after VCS or sham females copulated with a male to assess sexual receptivity. Results In the first experiment, females treated with both doses of OT received the scented male’s ejaculation first and more often, but they did not solicit the scented male more often than the unscented male. CLG-treated females received the unscented male’s first ejaculation preferentially and solicited the unscented male more often. In the second experiment, females treated with OT showed decreased sexual receptivity regardless of the type of stimulation, suggesting that OT mimicked the effect of VCS. In contrast, estrous termination was attenuated in females given CLG and L371,257 with VCS, suggesting that central and peripheral OT receptors play a role in activating neuroendocrine responses induced by copulation. Conclusions Taken together, these data suggest that OT signalling regulates aspects of both reproduction and sexual reward in female rats, biasing their preferences to receive ejaculations preferentially from males that are associated with paced copulation and terminating their sexual receptivity faster, thus, increasing the likelihood of pregnancy and paternity. Disclosure No.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".