DPS3502

PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Chapter 7: Reproductive Behavior
Main Source: Carlson, N. R. (2005). Foundations of physiological psychology, 6th edition. Boston: Pearson
Education Publisher.
Prepared by: Momoko Hue Chi Yin
Chapter Outline
• Male & Female Sexual Development
- Production of gametes and fertilization
- Development of the sex organs
- Sexual maturation
• Hormonal Control of Sexual Behavior
- Hormonal control of female reproductive cycles
- Hormonal control of sexual behavior of laboratory animals
• Neural Control of Sexual Behavior
 Male & Female Sexual Development

- Production of gametes and fertilization

- Development of the sex organs
- Sexual maturation
Production of Gametes & Fertilization
• The development of a human beings and a person’s
chromosomal or genetic sex is determined at the time of
fertilization.
• The production of gametes (ova and sperms; gamein
means “to marry”) means a special form of cell division.
• This process produces cells that contain one member of
each of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes.
• Development of a human begins at the time of fertilization
• A person’s genetic sex is determined at the time of
fertilization by the father or mother?
• 22pairs of chromosomes determine the organism’s physical
development independent of its sex.
Development of the Sex Organs
• Sex chromosome: The X and Y chromosomes, which
determine an organism’s gender. XX: female; XY: male
• Men & Women differ in many ways: bodies, parts of brains
and reproductive behaviors.
• Are all these differences encoded on the Y chromosome
that distinguishes males from females?
• The answer is no. X chromosome and twenty-two nonsex
chromosomes found in the cells of both males & females
contain all the information needed to develop the bodies of
either sex.
• Y chromosome: Control the development of the glands
that produce the male sex hormones.
Development of the Sex Organs
• 3 general categories of sex organ:
(A) Gonads
(B) Internal Sex Organs
(C) External Genitalia
Gonads
• The gonads: testes or ovaries.
• Dual functions:
(1) Produce ova or sperms
(2) Secrete hormones
• Through 6th week of prenatal development, male and
female fetuses are identical.
• Both sexes have a pair of identical undifferentiated
gonads, which have the potential of developing into either
testes or ovaries.
• The factor control their development is the single gene on
Y chromosome called Sry.
Gonads
• This gene produces a protein called testis-determining
factor which binds to the DNA of cells in the
undifferentiated gonads and causes them to become
testes (a.k.a. testicles).
• If the Sry gene is not present, they become ovaries.
• Once the gonads have developed, a series of events is
set into action that determines the individual’s gender.
Gonads
• These events are directed by sex hormones which affect
sexual development in two ways:
(1) During prenatal development, these hormones have
organizational effects which influence the development
of a person’s sex organs and brain. These effects are
permanent; once a particular path is followed in the
course of development, there is no going back.
(2) Activational effect occur later in life, after the sex organs
have developed.
• For example: sex hormones activate the production of
sperms, make erection and ejaculation and induce
ovulation.
Internal Sex Organs
• Early in embryonic development, the internal sex organs are
bisexual; which means embryos contain the precursors for
both male and female sex organs.
• However, during the third month of gestation, only one of
these precursors develops.
• The precursor of the internal female sex organs, which
develops into the fimbriae, fallopian tubes, the uterus and the
inner two-thirds of the vagina, is called the Mullerian system.
• The precursor of the internal male sex organs, which develops
into the epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles, is
called Wolffian system.
• The gender of the internal sex organs of a fetus is determined
by the presence/ absence of hormones secreted by the testes.
Internal Sex Organs
• Testes secrete two types of hormones.
(1) Peptide hormone called anti-Mullerian hormone: It prevents
the Mullerian (female) system from developing. It has a
defeminizing effect which reduces or prevents the later
development of anatomical or behavioral characteristics typical
of females.
(2) Steroid hormone called androgens: Stimulates the
development of the Wolffian system. Androgens have a
masculinizing effect.
• Two different androgens are responsible for masculinization.
(1) Testosterone: Secreted by the testes and gets its name
from these glands.
(2) Dihydrotestosterone: An enzyme converts some of the
testosterone into another androgen.
External Genitalia
• The external genitalia are the visible sex organs, including the
penis and outer part of the vagina in females.
• The external genitalia do not need to be stimulated by female
sex hormones to become female; they just naturally develop
that way.
• In the presence of dihydrotestosterone, the external genitalia
will become male.
• Thus, the gender of a person’s external genitalia is
determined by the presence or absence of an androgen
(dihydrotestosterone).
• It explains why people with Turner’s syndrome have female
external genitalia even though they only have one X
chromosome.
Sexual Maturation
• We have primary and secondary sex characteristics.
• Primary sex characteristics: Include the gonads, internal sex
organs and external genitalia. These organs are present at birth.
• Secondary sex characteristics such as enlarged breasts and
widened hips or a beard and deep voice, do not appear until
puberty.
• At puberty, the gonads are stimulated to produce their hormones
and these hormones cause the person to mature sexually.
• During onset of puberty, cells in the hypothalamus secrete
gonadotropin-releasing hormones (GnRH) which stimulate the
production and release of two gonadotropic hormones by the
anterior pituitary gland.
• Gonadotropic hormones responsible for sexual maturation.
Sexual Maturation
• The two gonadotropic hormones are follicle-stimulating hormone
(FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH).
• Same hormones are produced in the male, where they stimulate
the testes to produce sperms and to secrete testosterone.
• Same hormones are produce in the female, where they stimulate
the ovaries to produce estradiol, one of a class of hormones known
as estrogens.
• Both estradiol and androgens initiate closure of the growing
portions of the bones and thus halt skeletal growth.
• Estradiol also causes breast development, growth of the lining of
the uterus, changes in the deposition of body fat and maturation of
the female genitalia.
• Androgens stimulate growth of facial, underarm and pubic hair,
lower the voice, alter the hairline on the head, stimulate muscular
development and cause genital growth.
Test Your Understanding
• Kahoot Time
Hormonal Control of Sexual Behavior
• Study the interactions between sex hormones and the human brain
through research with laboratory animals.
• Video
• Males:
- Sexual behavior depends on testosterone. If a male rat is castrated
(means his testes are removed), his sexually activity eventually
ceases.
- Intromission: entry of the penis into the female’s vagina
- Pelvis thrusting: rhythmic movement of the hindquarters, causing
genital friction
- Ejaculation: discharge of semen
- Refractory period: A period of time after a particular action (for
example, an ejaculation by a male) during which that action cannot
occur again.
 Hormonal Control of Sexual Behavior
• Female:
- The mammalian female has been described as the passive participant
in copulation.
- Some species of female’s role during the act of copulation is merely
to assume a posture that exposes her genitals to the male. This
behavior is called the lordosis response.
- The reproductive cycle of female primates is called a menstrual
cycle.
- Females of other species of mammals also have reproductive cycle
called estrous cycles.
- Sexual behavior of female rodents depends on the gonadal hormones
present during estrus: estradiol and progesterone.
 Hormonal Control of Sexual Behavior
• The estradiol and progesterone has 3 effects on female rates:
(1) Increase the receptivity: their ability and willingness to copulate,
means to accept the advances of a male by holding still and
displaying lordosis when he attempts to mount her.
(2) Increase the proceptivity: female’s eagerness to copulate, she
seeks out a male and engages in behaviors that tend to arouse his
sexual interest.
(3) Increase attractiveness: Physiological and behavioral changes
that affect the male. Male mammals are most responsive to
females who are in estrus “in heat”. Males will ignore a female
whose ovaries have been removed but injectiions of estradiol and
progesterone will restore her attractiveness.
 Hormonal Control of Sexual Behavior
• Most female mammals other than higher primates is controlled by
the ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone.
• The ovarian hormones control not only the willingness of an estrous
female to mate but also her ability to mate.
• Even if the male rate would overpower her and mount her, her
lordosis response would not occur, he would be unable to achieve
intromission.
• The evolutionary process seems to have selected animals that mate
only when the female is able to become pregnant.
 Human Sexual Behavior
Activational Effects of Sex Hormones in Women
• In higher primates, the ability to mate is not controlled by ovarian
hormones.
• Although ovarian hormones do not control women’s sexual activity,
they may still have an influence on their sexual interest.
• A study of lesbian couples found a significant increase in sexual
interest and activity during the middle portions of the women’s
menstrual cycles, which suggests that ovarian hormones do influence
women’s sexual interest.
• Although ovarian hormones may affect a woman’s sexual interest,
her behavior can be influenced by other factors as well such as do
not want to become pregnant and does not have absolute confidence
in her method of birth control.
 Human Sexual Behavior
Activational Effects of Sex Hormones in Women
• Several investigators have suggested that women’s sexual interest
can be stimulated by androgens.
• For example, Shifren et al. (2000) studied ovariectomized women
aged 31-56 years who were receiving estrogen-replacement therapy.
• The women were given, in addition to the estrogen, either a placebo
or one of two different doses of testosterone.
• Placebo group: produced a positive effect
• Testosterone group: increased sexual activity and rate of orgasm
 Human Sexual Behavior
Activational Effects of Sex Hormones in Men
• With normal levels men can be potent and fertile; without
testosterone sperm production ceases and sooner or later, so does
sexual potency.
• In a double blind study, Bagatell et al. (1994) gave a placebo or a
GnRH antagonist (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) to young male
volunteers to supress secretion of testicular androgens.
• Result: Within two weeks the subjects who received the GnRH
antagonist reported a decrease in sexual interest, sexual fantasy and
intercourse.
• While men who received replacement doses of testosterone along
with the antagonist did not show these changes.
 Neural Control of Sexual Behavior
Males
• Erection and ejaculation are controlled by circuits of neurons that
reside in the spinal cord.
• Brain mechanisms have both excitatory and inhibitory control of
these circuits.
• Medial preoptic area (MPA), located just to the hypothalamus, is
the forebrain region most critical for male sexual behavior.
• Electrical stimulation of this region elicits male copulatory behavior
and sexual activity increases the firing rate of single neurons in the
MPA.
• Gorski et al. (1978) discovered a nucleus within the MPA f the rat
that is three to seven times larger in males than in females. This
called sexually dimorphic nucleus (SDN) of the preoptic area.
 Neural Control of Sexual Behavior
Males
• The size of this nucleus is controlled by the amount of androgens
present during fetal development.
• Androgens exert their activational effects on neurons in the MPA
and associated brain regions.
• If a male rodent is castrated in adulthood, its sexual behavior will
cease.
• However, the behavior can be reinstated by implanting a small
amount of testosterone directly into the MPA or in two regions
whose axons project to the MPA (central tegmental field and the
medial amygdala)
• These regions contain a high concentration of androgen receptors in
the male rat brain.
 Neural Control of Sexual Behavior
Females
• Ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) plays a essential
role in female sexual behavior.
• A female rat with bilateral lesions of the ventromedial nuclei will not
display lordosis, even if she is treated with estradiol and
progesterone.
• Electrical stimulation of the ventromedial nucleus facilitates female
sexual behavior.
• Injections of estradiol and progesterone directly into the VMH will
stimulate sexual behavior even in females whose ovaries have been
removed.