title: Early genital stimulation of rats lowers limbic seizure latencies for females but increases latencies for males.
abstract: The genitals of male and female rats were tactilely stimulated (glass rod) for 10 successive days beginning on postnatal Days 5, 15, 35; handled but nonstimulated litter mates served as the reference groups. Limbic seizures were induced by a single systemic injection of lithium and pilocarpine when the rats were adults. The genitally stimulated female rats displayed a lower seizure threshold (as inferred from shorter seizure-onset times) relative to their cage mates. The single largest effect occurred for those females which had been stimulated after the vagina had opened (postnatal 35-45 days).
authors.affiliation: Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Persinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000294:innervation*; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000294:innervation*; D008032:Limbic System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008094:Lithium; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000503:physiopathology; D010862:Pilocarpine; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010862:Pilocarpine; D008094:Lithium