| First Author | Inoue S | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 179 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 1393-1408.e16 |
| PubMed ID | 31735496 | Mgi Jnum | J:334100 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6727594 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.025 |
| Citation | Inoue S, et al. (2019) Periodic Remodeling in a Neural Circuit Governs Timing of Female Sexual Behavior. Cell 179(6):1393-1408.e16 |
| abstractText | Behaviors are inextricably linked to internal state. We have identified a neural mechanism that links female sexual behavior with the estrus, the ovulatory phase of the estrous cycle. We find that progesterone-receptor (PR)-expressing neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) are active and required during this behavior. Activating these neurons, however, does not elicit sexual behavior in non-estrus females. We show that projections of PR+ VMH neurons to the anteroventral periventricular (AVPV) nucleus change across the 5-day mouse estrous cycle, with approximately 3-fold more termini and functional connections during estrus. This cyclic increase in connectivity is found in adult females, but not males, and regulated by estrogen signaling in PR+ VMH neurons. We further show that these connections are essential for sexual behavior in receptive females. Thus, estrogen-regulated structural plasticity of behaviorally salient connections in the adult female brain links sexual behavior to the estrus phase of the estrous cycle. |
