Chapter 6

Female Reproductive Behavior

6.2 Nonestrous females are not motivated to mate

George Nicholaus Papanicolaou – discerned a test to identify external markers of the 16 day estrus cycle in guinea pigs. Very similar tests show the same patterns in other rodents, including the four day cycle seen in the Norway rat.

6.4 Cyclic changes in vaginal cell types

Vaginal lavage – technique using physiological saline to extract cells from the vaginal

6.5 Cyclic changes in ovarian structure

6.7 Lordosis makes successful copulation possible

6.8 Female initiation of sexual interactions

6.9 Estrogen mediates proceptivity, attractivity, and receptivity (Part 1)

6.9 Estrogen mediates proceptivity, attractivity, and receptivity (Part 2)

6.9 Estrogen mediates proceptivity, attractivity, and receptivity (Part 3)

6.10 Estrogen increases attractivity

Male acceptance ratio (MAR) is the number of female solicitations the male responds to.

Males will have a higher MAR in ovariectomized females receiving replacement estrogen.

6.11 A three-chamber preference test

Female tethered three chambered preference test is designed to assess male response. Other variations exist.

6.14 Estradiol enhances proceptivity in the absence of male interest

Females would increase their initiation of male interest (proceptivity) when estradiol is replaced even off season.

6.15 Endocrine control of receptivity can be affected by social factors

Comparison of Rhesus monkeys in different size areas.

6.16 A breeding deme

6.17 Female pacing of copulation

6.18 Paced mating enhances reproduction

6.19 The human menstrual cycle (Part 1)

6.19 The human menstrual cycle (Part 2)

Corpus luteum development is associated with the rise in progresterone.

6.19 The human menstrual cycle (Part 3)

6.20 The castration response

6.21 The ovarian cycle in rats

6.22 Receptive fields in the flanks increase in size during estrus

6.23 The neural basis of lordosis (Part 1)

6.23 The neural basis of lordosis (Part 2)

6.24 A detailed view of the neural circuitry mediating lordosis

6.26 Lordosis does not occur in progesterone receptor knockout mice

6.27 Five neural modules that mediate lordosis

Box 6.2 Human Pheromones