title: Heterosexual experience prevents the development of conditioned same-sex partner preference in male rats.
abstract: Sexual partner preferences can be strengthened, weakened or even drastically modified via Pavlovian conditioning. For example, conditioned same-sex partner preference develops in sexually-naïve male rats that undergo same-sex cohabitation under the effects of quinpirole (QNP, D2 agonist). Here, we assessed the effect of prior heterosexual experience on the probability to develop a conditioned same-sex preference. Naïve or Sexually-experienced males received either Saline or QNP and cohabited during 24h with a male partner that bore almond scent on the back as conditioned stimulus. This was repeated every 4days for a total of three trials and resulted in four groups (Saline-naïve, Saline-experienced, QNP-naïve, QNP-experienced). Social and sexual preference were assessed four days after the last conditioning trial in a drug-free test in which experimental males chose between the scented familiar male and a novel sexually receptive female. Results showed that Saline-naïve, Saline-experienced and QNP-experienced displayed a clear preference for the female (opposite-sex). By contrast, only QNP-naïve males displayed a same-sex preference. Accordingly, QNP-experienced males were not affected by the conditioning process and continued to prefer females. We discuss the effects of copulation and D2 agonists on the facilitation and/or disruption of conditioned partner preferences.
authors.affiliation: Maestría en Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Doctorado en Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Miriam B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Tecamachaltzi-Silvaran
authors.affiliation: Maestría en Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Victor X
authors.initials: VX
authors.lastname: Díaz-Estrada
authors.affiliation: Doctorado en Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chena-Becerra
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Deissy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herrera-Covarrubias
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paredes-Ramos
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manzo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Luis I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico. Electronic address: gcoria@uv.mx.
authors.forename: Genaro A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Coria-Avila
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003307:Copulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D019257:Quinpirole / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000819:agonists*
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D019257:Quinpirole
keywords: Conditioning; Experience; Homosexual; Quinpirole; Sex; Sexual behavior