Masculine sexual behavior: Pacing and ejaculatory patterns in female rats induced by electrical shock

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the responsiveness of male and female rats to peripheral electrical shock. Gonadectomized males and females were treated with androgen as adults and then tested for male copulatory behavior under shock and non-shock conditions. There was no significant difference in the periodicity of male copulatory behavior due to sex. The delivery of shock at 30 sec intervals paced the behavior and increased the rate of copulation. Peripheral electrical shock did not affect the number of intromissions per mount bout; however it did increase the number of intromissions per minute exhibited by both sexes. An unexpected finding during the course of testing was the display of the ejaculatory pattern by 3 of the 8 females tested. These results lend additional support to the hypothesis that the factors underlying masculine copulatory behavior in the female are very similar, if not identical, to those present in the male.