Hypothalamic Control of Sexual Behavior in the Chicken

Abstract

This study was an attempt to determine if testosterone propionate (TP) influences sexual behavior in male chickens by way of its action on one or more specific areas of the hypothalamus. The three mating behavior responses observed were waltz, attempts to mate, and mating. Electrical lesions selectively placed in the preoptic and mammilary regions caused mating behavior to decrease in non-testosterone treated males (Controls, C) and failed to increase mating behavior in males from eggs dipped in a TP solution on the third day of incubation (TP) males. Non significant increases in attempts to mate were observed in C males lesioned in the areas of the ruber nuclei (Ru), nuclei mesencephalicus (MPV) and nervus oculomotorius (NOC). Lesions in the optic chiasma (CHI) did not alter sexual behavior. Histological data of testes and vas deferens from TP males showed impaired development at 14 weeks of age but little difference from C males at 54 weeks of age.