Glutamate Afferents From the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Mediate Nucleus Accumbens Activation by Female Sexual Behavior

Kelsey M. Moore; Wyatt L. Oelberg; M. Rose Glass; Matthew D. Johnson; Laura E. Been; Robert L. Meisel

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00227

Glutamate Afferents From the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Mediate Nucleus Accumbens Activation by Female Sexual Behavior

Kelsey M. Moore, Wyatt L. Oelberg, M. Rose Glass, Matthew D. Johnson, Laura E. Been, Robert L. Meisel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low levels of desire and arousal are the primary sexual dysfunctions in women, necessitating neurobiological studies of sexual motivation in female animal models. As the mesocorticolimbic system is a primary neural circuit underlying sexual motivation, the goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) glutamate mediates sexual behavior activation of the nucleus accumbens. Glutamatergic neurons in the mPFC were activated by sex behavior, and these sex-activated cells shown to project to the nucleus accumbens. During sexual interactions with the male, glutamate transients recorded in the nucleus accumbens of female hamsters were specifically associated with the receipt of intromissions from the male. Further, inhibition of the mPFC during sex significantly decreased nucleus accumbens activation. Glutamatergic medial prefrontal cortical input to the nucleus accumbens mediates the activity in the nucleus accumbens during female sexual behavior. These results offer novel insights into the neurobiology of the motivational control of female sexual behavior and provide attractive avenues for pursuing target-specific and clinically-relevant therapies for sexual dysfunction in women.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	227
Journal	Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Volume	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00227
State	Published - Oct 4 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Alex Boettcher for his help with behavioral testing and immunocytochemical tissue processing/analysis. Histology plates were a generous gift from Ruth Wood. Funding. Research presented here was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant IOS 1256799 (RM, PI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01 HD100007 (RM, PI). KM was supported by NIH grants T32 DA007234 (Paul Mermelstein, PI) and T32 GM008471 (Timothy Ebner, PI). MG was supported by R25 NS083059 (RM, PI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health.

Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2019 Moore, Oelberg, Glass, Johnson, Been and Meisel.

Keywords

DREADD
glutamate
medial prefrontal cortex
nucleus accumbens
reward
sexual behavior

Publisher link

10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00227

Find It

Find It at U of M Libraries

Cite this

@article{fc0877cec67149fea9978739619f69bf,

title = "Glutamate Afferents From the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Mediate Nucleus Accumbens Activation by Female Sexual Behavior",

abstract = "Low levels of desire and arousal are the primary sexual dysfunctions in women, necessitating neurobiological studies of sexual motivation in female animal models. As the mesocorticolimbic system is a primary neural circuit underlying sexual motivation, the goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) glutamate mediates sexual behavior activation of the nucleus accumbens. Glutamatergic neurons in the mPFC were activated by sex behavior, and these sex-activated cells shown to project to the nucleus accumbens. During sexual interactions with the male, glutamate transients recorded in the nucleus accumbens of female hamsters were specifically associated with the receipt of intromissions from the male. Further, inhibition of the mPFC during sex significantly decreased nucleus accumbens activation. Glutamatergic medial prefrontal cortical input to the nucleus accumbens mediates the activity in the nucleus accumbens during female sexual behavior. These results offer novel insights into the neurobiology of the motivational control of female sexual behavior and provide attractive avenues for pursuing target-specific and clinically-relevant therapies for sexual dysfunction in women.",

keywords = "DREADD, glutamate, medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, reward, sexual behavior",

author = "Moore, {Kelsey M.} and Oelberg, {Wyatt L.} and Glass, {M. Rose} and Johnson, {Matthew D.} and Been, {Laura E.} and Meisel, {Robert L.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Alex Boettcher for his help with behavioral testing and immunocytochemical tissue processing/analysis. Histology plates were a generous gift from Ruth Wood. Funding. Research presented here was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant IOS 1256799 (RM, PI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01 HD100007 (RM, PI). KM was supported by NIH grants T32 DA007234 (Paul Mermelstein, PI) and T32 GM008471 (Timothy Ebner, PI). MG was supported by R25 NS083059 (RM, PI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019 Moore, Oelberg, Glass, Johnson, Been and Meisel.",

year = "2019",

month = oct,

day = "4",

doi = "10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00227",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "13",

journal = "Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience",

issn = "1662-5153",

publisher = "Frontiers Research Foundation",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Glutamate Afferents From the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Mediate Nucleus Accumbens Activation by Female Sexual Behavior

AU - Moore, Kelsey M.

AU - Oelberg, Wyatt L.

AU - Glass, M. Rose

AU - Johnson, Matthew D.

AU - Been, Laura E.

AU - Meisel, Robert L.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Alex Boettcher for his help with behavioral testing and immunocytochemical tissue processing/analysis. Histology plates were a generous gift from Ruth Wood. Funding. Research presented here was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant IOS 1256799 (RM, PI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01 HD100007 (RM, PI). KM was supported by NIH grants T32 DA007234 (Paul Mermelstein, PI) and T32 GM008471 (Timothy Ebner, PI). MG was supported by R25 NS083059 (RM, PI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2019 Moore, Oelberg, Glass, Johnson, Been and Meisel.

PY - 2019/10/4

Y1 - 2019/10/4

N2 - Low levels of desire and arousal are the primary sexual dysfunctions in women, necessitating neurobiological studies of sexual motivation in female animal models. As the mesocorticolimbic system is a primary neural circuit underlying sexual motivation, the goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) glutamate mediates sexual behavior activation of the nucleus accumbens. Glutamatergic neurons in the mPFC were activated by sex behavior, and these sex-activated cells shown to project to the nucleus accumbens. During sexual interactions with the male, glutamate transients recorded in the nucleus accumbens of female hamsters were specifically associated with the receipt of intromissions from the male. Further, inhibition of the mPFC during sex significantly decreased nucleus accumbens activation. Glutamatergic medial prefrontal cortical input to the nucleus accumbens mediates the activity in the nucleus accumbens during female sexual behavior. These results offer novel insights into the neurobiology of the motivational control of female sexual behavior and provide attractive avenues for pursuing target-specific and clinically-relevant therapies for sexual dysfunction in women.

AB - Low levels of desire and arousal are the primary sexual dysfunctions in women, necessitating neurobiological studies of sexual motivation in female animal models. As the mesocorticolimbic system is a primary neural circuit underlying sexual motivation, the goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) glutamate mediates sexual behavior activation of the nucleus accumbens. Glutamatergic neurons in the mPFC were activated by sex behavior, and these sex-activated cells shown to project to the nucleus accumbens. During sexual interactions with the male, glutamate transients recorded in the nucleus accumbens of female hamsters were specifically associated with the receipt of intromissions from the male. Further, inhibition of the mPFC during sex significantly decreased nucleus accumbens activation. Glutamatergic medial prefrontal cortical input to the nucleus accumbens mediates the activity in the nucleus accumbens during female sexual behavior. These results offer novel insights into the neurobiology of the motivational control of female sexual behavior and provide attractive avenues for pursuing target-specific and clinically-relevant therapies for sexual dysfunction in women.

KW - DREADD

KW - glutamate

KW - medial prefrontal cortex

KW - nucleus accumbens

KW - reward

KW - sexual behavior

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073676334&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85073676334&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00227

DO - 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00227

M3 - Article

C2 - 31636548

AN - SCOPUS:85073676334

SN - 1662-5153

VL - 13

JO - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

JF - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

M1 - 227

ER -

Glutamate Afferents From the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Mediate Nucleus Accumbens Activation by Female Sexual Behavior

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Publisher link

Find It

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this