Neonatal exposure of female ferrets to testosterone alters sociosexual preferences in adulthood.
Sociosexual preferences in adult female ferrets, as measured in a choice arena, were altered by neonatal exposure to exogenous testosterone. Adult female ferrets showed a preference for males which did not depend on the presence of gonadal steroids, because gonadectomized and gonadectomized estrogen-treated females showed identical preferences for males. Adult castrated males showed no preference for females unless these males were treated with testosterone. A similar no-preference pattern was found in adult females that had received testosterone neonatally. Females exposed neonatally to dihydrotestosterone or estradiol exhibited the normal females' male-oriented preference. These results indicate that testosterone secreted by the testes in the developing male may interrupt the phenotypic female development pattern and hence prevent the emergence of a homosexual preference in adulthood in the male ferret.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005289:Ferrets; D006716:Homosexuality; D008297:Male; D009919:Orchiectomy; D010052:Ovariectomy; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*
D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol