Effects of stimulus female on sexual behavior of male rats given olfactory tubercle and corticomedial amygdaloid lesions

Lesions of the olfactory tubercle (OT) or corticomedial amygdala (CMA) damaging projections from the main or accessory olfactory bulbs, respectively, were made in male rats. When paired with ovariectomized females treated with estradiol benzoate (EB) and progesterone (Experiment 1) sexual behavior of lesioned males did not differ from sham and unoperated controls. During Experiment 2 males were paired with females chronically treated with EB only. Lesions of the OT did not affect mating while CMA lesions produced lengthened ejaculatory latencies (EL), longer mean interintromission intervals and more intromissions per ejaculation. Lesions of the CMA produced EL which were either within a normal range or noticeably extended with ejaculatory deficits becoming more exaggerated through three ejaculatory series. Low levels of soliciting by EB treated females seemed to precipitate ejaculatory deficits.