Estrogen receptors α and β mediate different aspects of the facilitatory effects of female cues on male risk taking

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

卷:33

Article

Kavaliers, Martin¹  Devidze, Nino²  Choleris, Elena³  Fudge, Melissa¹  Gustafsson, Jan-Ake⁴  Korach, Kenneth S.⁵  Pfaff, Donald W.²  Ogawa, Sonoko^2,6 

[1] Univ Western Ontario, Dept Psychol, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada

[2] Rockefeller Univ, Lab Neurobiol Behav, New York, NY 10021 USA

[3] Univ Guelph, Dept Psychol, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

[4] Karolinska Inst, Dept Biosci & Nutr, S-14186 Huddinge, Sweden

[5] Natl Inst Environm Hlth Sci, Reprod & Dev Toxicol Lab, Res Triangle Pk, NC 27709 USA

[6] Univ Tsukuba, Lab Behav Neuroendocrinol, Grad Sch Comprehens Human Sci, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 3058577, Japan

关键词: boldness;    decision making;    predator odor;    anxiety;    fear;    social behavior;    social recognition;    sexual motivation;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.02.003

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Mate risk taking and decision making are affected by sex-related cues, with men making poorer and riskier decisions in the presence of females and, or their cues. In non-human species, female cues can also increase mate risk taking, reducing their responses to predator threat. As estrogen receptors alpha and beta (ER alpha and ER beta) are involved in the mediation of social and sexual responses, we investigated their roles in determining the effects of female-associated cues on mate risk taking. We examined the effects of brief pre-exposure to the odors of either a novel or familiar estrous female on the avoidance of, and aversive responses to, predator threat (cat odor) in ER alpha and ER beta wild type (alpha ERWT, beta ERWT) and gene-deleted (knockout, alpha ERKO, beta ERKO) mate mice. Exposure of alpha ERWT and alpha ERWT mates to the odors of a novel, but not a familiar, estrous female mouse resulted in enhanced risk taking with the mates displaying reduced avoidance of, and analgesic responses to, cat odor. In contrast, alpha ERKO mate mice failed to show any changes in risk taking, while beta ERKO mates, although displaying greater risk taking, did not distinguish between novel and familiar females, displaying similarly reduced avoidance responses to cat odor after exposure to either a novel or familiar female odor. These findings indicate that the gene for ER alpha is associated with the sexual mechanisms (response to estrous female) and the genes for ER beta and ER alpha with the social (recognition of novel female) mechanisms underlying the effects of female cues on mate risk taking. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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