• Login
    View Item 
    •   UMB Digital Archive
    • School, Graduate
    • Theses and Dissertations All Schools
    • View Item
    •   UMB Digital Archive
    • School, Graduate
    • Theses and Dissertations All Schools
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of UMB Digital ArchiveCommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Stimulus Specificity and the Roles of Progesterone and Dopamine Receptors in a Model of Methamphetamine-facilitated Female Sexual Motivation

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Rudzinskas_umaryland_0373D_108 ...
    Size:
    2.402Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Rudzinskas, Sarah Anne
    Advisor
    Mong, Jessica Aurora
    Date
    2017
    Type
    dissertation
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Methamphetamine (MA) is a psychomotor stimulant which, when abused, is reported to increase sexual drive in both men and women. The neurobiological mechanism underlying the effect of MA on sexual motivation is not well understood, especially in women. Our lab has recapitulated this effect in a rodent model, where combined administration of MA with estradiol and progesterone results in a significant increase in proceptive, or sexually motivated, behaviors in ovariectomized female rats. We have demonstrated that neurons in the medial amygdala (MeA) undergo activational changes after MA, as measured by cFos upregulation. The data in this thesis addresses two major remaining gaps in knowledge of both the model itself and the mechanism by which MA increases sexual motivation. First, I addressed whether increased proceptive behaviors are truly indicative of sexual motivation, or instead a manifestation of MA-induced generalized arousal. Here, I present data to support that MA-induced increases in proceptive behaviors are specific to a sexually relevant stimulus. Furthermore, my data implies that MA may heighten responsivity to specific, androgen-mediated, sexually relevant cues. Since the ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone are essential for the full display of female sexual behaviors, I examined the progesterone receptor (PR), which is known to be necessary for proceptive behavior. Our previous findings had suggested progesterone signaling mechanisms were a likely downstream target of MA, as dopamine signaling can modulate them. Therefore, the second major question I addressed was whether the increase in PRs induced by MA in the MeA was sufficient for increasing sexual motivation, and whether this increase was directly due to dopamine receptor (D1R) activation. Now, I present data demonstrating that upregulation of PRs in the MeA is sufficient to increase sexually motivated and receptive behaviors in the absence of MA. This suggests that PR may be the feed-forward target of D1R-mediated facilitation of sexual motivation in females. However, my data does not support a direct link between D1R activation and PR upregulation. More surprisingly, neither D1R nor PR activation correlates with cFos levels in the MeA. Together, these data bring us closer to understanding the mechanism underlying MA-facilitated female sexual motivation.
    Description
    University of Maryland, Baltimore. Neuroscience. Ph.D. 2017
    Keyword
    neural activation
    proceptive behavior
    rodent model
    sexual motivation
    Methamphetamine
    Receptors, Progesterone
    Identifier to cite or link to this item
    http://hdl.handle.net/10713/6711
    Collections
    Theses and Dissertations School of Medicine
    Theses and Dissertations All Schools

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Policies | Contact Us | UMB Health Sciences & Human Services Library
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.