Development of rat female genital cortex and control of female puberty by sexual touch
PLoS Biol. 2017-09-21; 15(9): e2001283
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001283
Lire sur PubMed
https://www.bordeaux-neurocampus.fr/12171
Lenschow C(1), Sigl-Glöckner J(1), Brecht M(1)(2).
Author information:
(1)Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Humboldt-Universität
zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
(2)NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin,
Germany.
Rat somatosensory cortex contains a large sexually monomorphic genital
representation. Genital cortex undergoes an unusual 2-fold expansion during
puberty. Here, we investigate genital cortex development and female rat sexual
maturation. Ovariectomies and estradiol injections suggested sex hormones cause
the pubertal genital cortex expansion but not its maintenance at adult size.
Genital cortex expanded by thalamic afferents invading surrounding dysgranular
cortex. Genital touch was a dominant factor driving female sexual maturation.
Raising female rats in contact with adult males promoted genital cortex
expansion, whereas contact to adult females or nontactile
(audio-visual-olfactory) male cues did not. Genital touch imposed by human
experimenters powerfully advanced female genital cortex development and sexual
maturation. Long-term blocking of genital cortex by tetrodotoxin in pubescent
females housed with males prevented genital cortex expansion and decelerated
vaginal opening. Sex hormones, sexual experience, and neural activity shape
genital cortex, which contributes to the puberty promoting effects of sexual
touch.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001283
PMCID: PMC5608169
PMID: 28934203 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
Conflict of interest statement: The authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.