Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Neuroendocrinology of sexual behavior

International Journal of Impotence Research (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

One of the consequences of sexual behavior is reproduction. Thus, this behavior is essential for the survival of the species. However, the individual engaged in sexual behavior is rarely aware of its reproductive consequences. In fact, the human is probably the only species in which sexual acts may be performed with the explicit purpose of reproduction. Most human sexual activities as well as sex in other animals is performed with the aim of obtaining a state of positive affect. This makes sexual behavior important for wellbeing as well as for reproduction. It is not surprising, then, that sexual health has become an increasingly important issue, and that knowledge of the basic mechanisms controlling that behavior are urgently needed. The endocrine control of sexual behavior has been extensively studied, and although it is established that gonadal hormones are necessary, some controversy still exists concerning which hormone does what in which species. The brain areas necessary for sexual behavior have been determined in almost all vertebrates except the human. The medial preoptic area is crucial in males of all non-human vertebrates, whereas the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus is important in females. Modulatory functions have been ascribed to several other brain areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Rat sexual behavior.
Fig. 2: The sequence of events in a sexual interaction.
Fig. 3: Schematic drawing of the neurobiological circuits controlling the display of lordosis in female rats.
Fig. 4
Fig. 5: The role of aromatization in the control of sexual approach behavior in male rats.
Fig. 6: The medial preoptic area (MPOA) as a connector between sensory input and motor output.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data used for elaboration of Fig. 5 are available from the author upon reasonable request.

References

  1. Ågmo A, Laan E. The sexual incentive motivation model and its clinical applications. J Sex Res. 2022;in press.

  2. Paredes RG. Evaluating the neurobiology of sexual reward. Ilar J. 2009;50:15–27.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Pfaff DW. Estrogens and brain function: neural analysis of a hormone-controlled mammalian reproductive behavior. Springer: New York, 1980.

  4. Pfaff DW, Lewis C, Diakow C, Keiner M. Neurophysiological analysis of mating behavior as hormone-sensitive reflexes. Progr Physiol Psychol. 1973;5:253–97.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ågmo A, Snoeren EMS. A cooperative function for multisensory stimuli in the induction of approach behavior of a potential mate. PLoS One. 2017;12:e0174339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Le Moëne O, Ågmo A. The neuroendocrinology of sexual attraction. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2017;51:46–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chu X, Ågmo A. Sociosexual behaviours in cycling, intact female rats (Rattus norvegicus) housed in a seminatural environment. Behaviour. 2014;151:1143–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Le Moëne O, Hernández-Arteaga E, Chu X, Ågmo A. Rapid changes in sociosexual behaviors around transition to and from behavioral estrus, in female rats housed in a seminatural environment. Behav Process. 2020;174:104101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ogawa S, Tsukahara S, Choleris E, Vasudevan N. Estrogenic regulation of social behavior and sexually dimorphic brain formation. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2020;110:46–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Prossnitz ER, Maggiolini M. Mechanisms of estrogen signaling and gene expression via GPR30. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2009;308:32–38.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Luo J, Liu D. Does GPER really function as a G protein-coupled estrogen receptor in vivo? Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2020;11:148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Harris GW, Michael RP. The activation of sexual behaviour by hypothalamic implants of oestrogen. J Physiol. 1964;171:275–301.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Spiteri T, Musatov S, Ogawa S, Ribeiro A, Pfaff DW, Ågmo A. Estrogen-induced sexual incentive motivation, proceptivity and receptivity depend on a functional estrogen receptor α in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus but not in the amygdala. Neuroendocrinology. 2010;91:142–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Musatov S, Chen W, Pfaff DW, Kaplitt MG, Ogawa S. RNAi-mediated silencing of estrogen receptor α in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus abolishes female sexual behaviors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006;103:10456–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Mohr MA, Wong AM, Sukumar G, Dalgard CL, Hong WZ, Wu TJ, et al. RNA-sequencing of AVPV and ARH reveals vastly different temporal and transcriptomic responses to estradiol in the female rat hypothalamus. PLoS One. 2021;16:e0256148.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kiesner J, Eisenlohr-Moul T, Mendle J. Evolution, the menstrual cycle, and theoretical overreach. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2020;15:1113–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Stern J, Gerlach TM, Penke L. Probing ovulatory-cycle shifts in women’s preferences for men’s behaviors. Psychol Sci. 2020;31:424–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE, Gebhard PH. Sexual behavior in the human female. Saunders: Philadelphia, 1953.

  19. Waxenberg SE, Drellich MG, Sutherland AM. Role of hormones in human behavior. I. Changes in female sexuality after adrenalectomy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1959;19:193–202.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Burger HG. Androgen production in women. Fertil Steril. 2002;77:S3–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Turna B, Apaydin E, Semerci B, Altay B, Cikili N, Nazli O. Women with low libido: correlation of decreased androgen levels with female sexual function index. Int J Impot Res. 2005;17:148–153. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901294.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Mathur R, Braunstein GD. Androgen deficiency and therapy in women. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2010;17:342–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Palacios S. Expression of androgen receptors in the structures of vulvovaginal tissue. Menopause—J N. Am Menopause Soc. 2020;27:1336–42.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Traish AM, Kim N, Min K, Munarriz R, Goldstein I. Role of androgens in female genital sexual arousal: receptor expression, structure, and function. Fertil Steril. 2002;77:S11–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Yoldemir T, Garibova N, Atasayan K. Sexual function through decades: association with androgens and cardiometabolic features. Climacteric. 2020;23:489–95.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Laan ETM, Prins JM, van Lunsen RHW, Nieuwkerk PT, Nievaard-Boon MAF. Testosterone insufficiency in human immunodeficiency virus-infected women: A cross-sectional study. Sex Med. 2019;7:72–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Verdonck-de Leeuw IM, Melissant H, Lissenberg-Witte BI, de Jong RJB, den Heijer M, Langendijk JA, et al. Associations between testosterone and patient reported sexual outcomes among male and female head and neck cancer patients before and six months after treatment: A pilot study. Oral Oncol. 2021;121:105505.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Cappelletti M, Wallen K. Increasing women’s sexual desire: The comparative effectiveness of estrogens and androgens. Horm Behav. 2016;78:178–93.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Mei M, Grillot RL, Abbey CK, Emery Thompson M, Roney JR. Does scent attractiveness reveal women’s ovulatory timing? Evidence from signal detection analyses and endocrine predictors of odour attractiveness. Proc R Soc B: Biol Sci 2022;289:20220026.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Kim GW, Jeong GW. Menopause-related brain activation patterns during visual sexual arousal in menopausal women: An fMRI pilot study using time-course analysis. Neuroscience. 2017;343:449–58.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Wise NJ, Frangos E, Komisaruk BR. Brain activity unique to orgasm in women: An fMRI analysis. J Sex Med. 2017;14:1380–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Van’t Hof SR, Cera N. Specific factors and methodological decisions influencing brain responses to sexual stimuli in women. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2021;131:164–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Carlson ML. The rationale of eunuch power in the government of T’ang China, 618–805. Ph.D. thesis, University of Chicago, 1972.

  34. Steinach E. Untersuchungen zur vergleichenden Physiologie der männlichen Geschlechtsorgane insbesondere der accessorischen Geschlechtsdrüsen. Pflug Arch Gesamt Physiol Menschen Tiere. 1894;56:304–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Shapiro HA. Effect of testosterone propionate upon mating. Nature. 1937;139:588–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Ryan KJ, Naftolin F, Reddy V, Flores F, Petro Z. Estrogen formation in the brain. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1972;114:454–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Baum MJ, Vreeburg JTM. Copulation in castrated male rats following combined treatment with estradiol and dihydrotestosterone. Science. 1973;182:283–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Hull EM, Rodríguez-Manzo G. Male sexual behavior. In: Pfaff DW, Joëls M (eds). Hormones, Brain and Behavior (Third Edition). Academic Press: Oxford, 2017, pp 1–57.

  39. Trouillet AC, Ducroq S, Naulé L, Capela D, Parmentier C, Radovick S, et al. Deletion of neural estrogen receptor alpha induces sex differential effects on reproductive behavior in mice. Commun Biol. 2022;5:383.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Brooks DC, Coon VJS, Ercan CM, Xu X, Dong H, Levine JE, et al. Brain aromatase and the regulation of sexual activity in male mice. Endocrinology. 2020;161:1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Phoenix CH. Effects of dihydrotestosterone on sexual behavior of castrated male rhesus monkeys. Physiol Behav. 1974;12:1045–55.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Zumpe D, Bonsall RW, Michael RP. Effects of nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor, fadrozole, on the sexual behavior of male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Horm Behav. 1993;27:200–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Zumpe D, Clancy AN, Bonsall RW, Michael RP. Behavioral responses to depo-provera, fadrozol and estradiol in castrated, testosterone-treated cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis): the involvement of progestin receptors. Physiol Behav. 1996;60:531–40.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Gooren LJG. Human male sexual functions do not require aromatization of testosterone: a study using tamoxifen, testolactone, and dihydrotestosterone. Arch Sex Behav. 1985;14:539–48.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Sartorius GA, Ly LP, Handelsman DJ. Male sexual function can be maintained without aromatization: Randomized placebo-controlled trial of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in healthy, older men for 24 months. J Sex Med. 2014;11:2562–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Hillarp NÅ, Olivecrona H, Silfverskiöld W. Evidence for the participation of the preoptic area in male mating behavior. Experientia 1954;10:224–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Heimer L, Larsson K. Impairment of mating behavior in male rats following lesions in the preoptic-anterior hypothalamic continuum. Brain Res. 1966;3:248–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Paredes RG. Medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus and sexual motivation. Scand J Psychol. 2003;44:203–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Jennings KJ, de Lecea L. Neural and hormonal control of sexual behavior. Endocrinology. 2020;161:1–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Stoléru S, Fonteille V, Cornelis C, Joyal C, Moulier V. Functional neuroimaging studies of sexual arousal and orgasm in healthy men and women: A review and meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2012;36:1481–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Fabre-Nys C, Martin GB. Hormonal control of proceptive and receptive sexual behavior and the preovulatory LH surge in the ewe: Reassessment of the respective roles of estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone. Horm Behav. 1991;25:295–312.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

    Anders Ågmo

Authors
  1. Anders Ågmo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A Å wrote the entire manuscript and was in charge of the production of the figures.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anders Ågmo.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ågmo, A. Neuroendocrinology of sexual behavior. Int J Impot Res (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-022-00654-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-022-00654-5

Search

Advanced search

Quick links