Of rats and women: preclinical insights into the nature of female sexual desire

Abstract

This review examines the breadth and utility of preclinical models of female sexual desire in rats. Desire is inferred by certain measures, such as solicitations, rates of pacing (in which female rats control the initiation and rate of copulatory contact with male rats), and the strength of operant behavior aimed at acquiring sex partners. Current research reveals a complex interplay between sensory stimulation and sexual reward that shapes the strength and type of sexual responding, and that crystallizes the features of desired partners in female rats. The manner in which steroid hormones and sexual experience alter brain neurochemistry to prime the activation of these pathways is a major focus of this work. In contrast to more traditional assessments of lordosis, these models have predictive validity in terms of human female sexual function and dysfunction: for example, drugs that increase solicitations in female rats, such as the melanocortin agonist bremelanotide, are now being shown in clinical trials to increase subjective sexual desire and the initiation of sexual activity in both pre- and post-menopausal women with hypoactive desire disorders. Because rat models offer the ability to conduct experiments that are considered unethical in humans, they will become increasingly important in the development of pharmacological treatments for sexual dysfunctions.

Keywords:

• animal model
• sexual stimulation
• sexual reward
• hormones
• brain
• neurochemical systems
• female sexual dysfunctions

Acknowledgements

Research from the author's laboratory was funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-74563) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (OGP-0138878).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James G. Pfaus

JAMES G. PFAUS, PhD, Professor of neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal.