Abstract
FEMALE cats in spontaneous or induced œstrus display a characteristic behaviour which may be divided into: (1) courtship activities (playful rolling, rubbing, calling, crouching with pelvis raised, and ‘treading'), and (2) the after-reaction (vigorous or frantic rolling, rubbing, squirming, and lieking).1 Bard1 has shown that extirpation of the neocortex does not change the specific pattern of the sexual response. It was my aim to determine if this peculiar performance of the female cat during ‘heat’ is conditioned by the activity of an encephalic ‘sexual centre’ or if some typical components of the complex behaviour could still be elicited from the spinal cord after transection of the brain stem below the medulla.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bard, Ph., Psych. Rev., 41, 424, (1934); Amer. J. Physiol, 116, 4, (1936).
Dempsey, E. W., and Rioch, D. MeK., J. Neurophysiol., 2, 9, (1939).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MAES, J. Neural Mechanism of Sexual Behaviour in the Female Cat. Nature 144, 598–599 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144598a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144598a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
