Sadism and other paraphilias in normal controls and aggressive and nonaggressive sex offenders

Penile circumference responses (PCRs) to a visual age/gender erotic preference battery were analyzed from 60 normal controls and 227 sexual offenders. Sixty offenders were classified as sexual aggressives on the basis of their behavior and damage to their victims. The mean PCR to sadism slides (visual portrayals of nonsexual violence against fully clothed females) was significantly larger for the sexually aggressive group compared to the sexual nonaggressive offender and normal control groups. There were no significant differences in mean victim damage scores between the sexual aggressives who responded significantly to the sadism slides and those who did not. Thus, PCRs were not useful in identifying more from less dangerous sexual aggressives. The incidence of a clinically significant PCR to any of the four paraphilic categories included in the assessment battery was 28, 60, and 65% in the normal controls, sexual nonaggressives, and sexual aggressives, respectively. For sadism, it was 5, 8, and 45% respectively, for these groups. Pedophilia had a low incidence of co-occurrence with other paraphilias whereas sadism, transvestism/fetishism, and the courtship disorder paraphilias had a high incidence of co-occurrence.Supported by a research grant from Alberta Hospital Edmonton.     

Effects of prenatal exposure to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on reproductive, endocrine and immune parameters of male and female rat offspring

The effects of prenatal THC administration, given during the third week of gestation in rats, on the reproductive, endocrine and immune systems of the adult offspring were examined. THC treatment blocked the surge of testosterone which occurs in the male rat fetus on gestation day 18. Moreover, when copulatory parameters were measured in adult male offspring, males that had been exposed to THCin utero exhibited an increased latency to mount (THC: 245±49vs vehicle: 99±12 sec) and none of the males ejaculated. Female rats exposed to THCin utero, exhibited an increased incidence of irregular estrous cycles and the number of females exhibiting lordosis behavior was reduced when compared to vehicle controls. Hormone analyses revealed that prolactin levels were significantly lower in the THC-vs vehicle-exposed male (THC: 5.2±0.4vs vehicle: 8.4±0.6 ng/ml) and female offspring (THC: 5.7±0.3vs vehicle: 12.2±1.8 ng/ml). However, there were no significant differences in basal plasma LH levels or in testicular weights of the male offspring. Thymus weight and total number of thymocytes were significantly higher in THC-exposed male and female rats when compared to vehicle controls. Together, these results indicate that maternal THC exposure has long-lasting effects on reproductive, endocrine and immune parameters of both male and female rat offspring.     

美洲钩虫和十二指肠钩虫雄虫交合刺扫描电镜观察

本文应用扫描电镜观察美洲钩虫和十二指肠钩虫雄虫交合刺的形态结构,发现两种钩虫的交合刺均为一根呈凹槽状,另一根呈扁圆管状。由于其槽状交合刺的槽横切面的弧度不同,致使美洲钩虫的交合刺在外观上以一根为多见,而十二指肠钩虫的则以两根分开为多见。     

Effects of an NO synthase inhibitor on aggressive and sexual behavior in male crickets

The mechanisms of the effects of some types of behavior on others have received little study. The present investigation addresses the phenomenon present in male crickets of the species Gryllus bimaculatus, consisting of the powerful activation by transient flight (3 min) of aggression to another male and of the female courtship program. We found that flight did not evoke these behavioral changes in males injected with the NO synthase inhibitor LNNA. The intensity and duration of fights with another male, the frequency of ritual singing by the victor, and the intensity with which the victor pursued the vanquished only increased significantly after flight in control male crickets injected with Ringer’s solution, but not in experimental crickets. Similarly, flown males injected with LNNA were no different from unflown males in terms of the intensity of female courtship (the latent period and relative duration of courtship singing); in controls, the latent period was significantly shorter and the duration of singing was significantly greater in flown crickets. LNNA had no effect on aggressive or sexual behavior in unflown males. These results demonstrate that flight may increase NO synthesis, making a significant contribution to the formation of the flight-evoked behavioral state. __________ Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 91, No. 6, pp. 616–624, June, 2005.     

Enhanced fos expression in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) brain following first courtship

Young zebra finch males that court a female for the first time develop a stable preference for the females of that species. On the neuronal level, consolidation of the imprinted information takes place. Here we demonstrate that first courtship or being chased around in the cage leads to enhanced fos expression in forebrain areas implicated in learning and imprinting in zebra finch males compared with birds reared in isolation or in the aviary. Two of the forebrain areas highly active during first courtship (as demonstrated by the 14C-2-deoxyglucose technique), the imprinting locus latral neo/hyperstriatum ventrale (LNH) and the secondary visual area hyperstriatum accessorium/dorsale (HAD), demonstrate enhanced fos expression. Two other imprinting-related areas, the medial neo/hyperstriatum ventrale (MNH) and archistriatum/neostriatum caudale (ANC), do show c-fos induction; however, the areas are not congruous with those demarcated by the 2-DG autoradiographic studies. Additional telencephalic areas include the olfactory lobe, the information storage site lobus parolfactorius (LPO), the memory site hippocampus, the auditory caudomedial neostriatum implicated in the strength of song learning, and the caudolateral neostriatum, which is comparable to the mammalian prefrontal cortex. In addition, c-fos is induced by first courtship and chasing in neurosecretory cell groups of the preoptic area and hypothalamus associated with the repertoire of sexual behavior and stress or enhanced arousal. Enhanced fos expression is also observed in brainstem sources of specific (noradrenergic, catecholaminergic) and nonspecific (reticular formation) activating pathways with inputs to higher brain areas implicated in the imprinting process. Birds reared in isolation or alternatively in the aviary with social and sexual contact to conspecifics showed attenuated or no fos expression in most of the above-mentioned areas. First courtship and chasing both lead to enhanced uptake of 2-DG in the four imprinting areas, as well as subsequent changes in spine density-an anatomical manifestation of the imprinting process. fos expression in the imprinting and other telencephalic, preoptic, hypothalamic, and mesencephalic brain regions indicates processing of stimuli originating from exposure (like chasing) and the analysis of stimuli in a behaviorally relevant, sexually explicit context (like first courtship). c-fos induction in these brain areas indicates its involvement in the triggering of neural changes that accompany the learning process of imprinting, leading eventually to alterations in dendritic spine density in the zebra finch.     

Copulatory activity increases slow-wave sleep in the male rat

It is believed that sexual activity increases the need to sleep in many species. However, the relationship between copulatory activity and sleep has been poorly studied. Several studies have observed variations in the sleep of female rats and women as a function of their reproductive state. These effects have been correlated with the effects of female steroid hormones, but not with sexual activity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sleep-wake pattern of male rats immediately after different conditions of copulatory activity. Sexually experienced male rats were chronically implanted with a standard set of electrodes for sleep recording. After a control sleep recording of 8 h, the males were randomly assigned to one of the following experimental conditions: 30 min in the presence of an ovariectomized (OVX) rat; 30 min in the presence of an intact non-receptive female (NRF); with a receptive female until reaching one ejaculation (1E); and with a receptive female until reaching three ejaculations (3E). In addition, after 10 days, males were randomly exposed to one of the following copulatory conditions during 4 h: to remain in the presence of an OVX rat; to remain in the presence of an NRF female, and with receptive females until reaching sexual satiety (SS). Male sexual behavior was assessed just after the onset of the dark period, and sleep recordings were obtained during 8 h immediately after experimental testing. Both the three ejaculations group (3E) in the first experiment and the sexual satiety group (SS) in the second experiment showed enhanced percentages of time spent in slow wave sleep (SWS) II and a shorter latency to the first SWS II episode than in the control group or under basal conditions. In addition, neither the presence of a non-receptive female or an OVX female, nor sexual behavior until reaching one ejaculation induced any effect on the sleep stages. These findings suggest that the increase in SWS II induced by both 3E and SS may be governed by some specific mechanism that is essentially independent of physical exercise or stress. Copulatory activity might be the source of neurohormonal processes that induce sleep and may involve the participation of gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin or other endogenous regulators of sleep and wakefulness. Nevertheless, the precise mechanism by which the sexual behavior increases SWS is still to be determined.     

Patterns of motor and seminal vesicle activities during copulation in the male rat

The interaction between behavioral and visceral events during copulation was studied in nine intact adult male Wistar rats. The motor copulatory pattern was analyzed by an accelerometric technique and the seminal vesicle pressure (SVP) was recorded through a catheter chronically inserted into the right seminal vesicle. Mounting was associated with a small broad rise in SVP that often preceded the initiation of pelvic thrusting. Penile insertion resulted in a second sharp rise in SVP superimposed on the primary wave related to mounting. A steep rise in SVP occurred during the performance of the motor ejaculatory pattern after a variable period of intravaginal thrusting. This final rise was associated with ejaculation. Analysis of the temporal relationships between the SVP changes and copulatory behavior revealed that each of the three rises of SVP was related to distinct patterns of stimulation, suggesting that they were mediated by separate reflex arcs.     

Mutational changes in the courtship activity of male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) after X-irradiation

The courtship activity of male F₂ descendants of irradiated and control guppies,Poecilia reticulata, of the inbred strain Istanbul was compared. The results of Spieser and Schröder (1978), who found a decrease in courtship activity of descendants of irradiated guppies, were confirmed under more natural conditions.     

Genetic analysis of lines selected for wing vibration inDrosophila melanogaster

Selection for the wing vibration component of courtship in the Oregon-R stock ofD. melanogaster was practiced for 44 generations. Selection was successful, indicating that there is genetic variation for the trait in the Oregon-R stock. The mean realized heritability of the trait, based on the first 11 generations of selection, was 15%. Biometrical analysis showed that there is some additive genetic variance for the trait with the possibility of some ambidirectional dominance. No maternal effects for the trait were found.