Sexual behavior and aggression in male mice: involvement of the vomeronasal system

摘要: Recent observations have implicated the vomeronasal (accessory olfactory) system in chemosensory control of rodent social behaviors. The purpose this study was to observe effects peripheral organ extirpation on sexual behavior, aggression, and urine marking male mice. Relative sham-operated animals, mice lacking organs displayed significantly reduced levels copulatory behavior intermale aggression. Urine rates were not reduced. removal resulted complete bilateral deafferentation accessory olfactory bulbs but spared input main as evidenced by lack anterograde nerve transport normal intranasally applied horseradish peroxidase. Neither body weights, paired testes nor seminal vesicle weights with lesions differed from those animals. Thus, an intact is important for display aggression mice, reductions these androgen-dependent behaviors following cannot be attributed a chronic reduction gonadal hormone secretion.