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Neuroscience and Behavior Program and Psychology Department, Tobin Hall, Box 37710, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Jeffrey D. Blaustein, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Department of Psychology, Tobin Hall, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003.
Activation of steroid hormone receptors by steroid hormones alters both the physiology and behavior of animals. Steroid hormone receptors (e.g., progestin receptors) can also be activated in the absence of steroid hormones by pharmacological treatment with neurotransmitters or neuropeptides. However, it is not known if progesterone-independent activation of brain progestin receptors occurs under natural, physiological, conditions. We report that increases in reproductive behavior and brain immediate early gene expression in female rats induced by mating stimuli can be blocked by prior treatment with progesterone antagonists in the absence of circulating progesterone. This suggests that progestin receptors are activated in a progesterone-independent manner by a physiologically relevant stimulus in female rats, thus implicating a novel pathway by which mating stimuli and other environmental influences could activate steroid receptors to influence neuronal response and behavior.
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