Precopulatory Exposure Test
Objective: To measure extracellular dopamine levels in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) during precopulatory exposure to an estrous female and to determine if dopamine increases are related to sexual motivation
This is a Precopulatory Exposure Test protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 4 procedural steps, 3 equipment items, 2 materials. Extracted from a 1995 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
rat • Not specified • male • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Precopulatory exposure to estrous female • Remove barrier and allow copulation • Exposure to another male as control
Primary readouts
- Extracellular dopamine levels in the medial preoptic area (MPOA)
- Dopamine metabolite levels
- Whether animals subsequently copulated or failed to copulate
- Comparison of dopamine response between precopulatory exposure and copulation phases
Key equipment and reagents
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Protocol Steps
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Precopulatory exposure to estrous female
Male rat is exposed to an estrous female behind a barrier to measure dopamine response during precopulatory exposure
Note: Dopamine levels were measured during this phase in all animals
View evidence from paper
“DA level increased during precopulatory exposure to the female in all animals that subsequently copulated”
Remove barrier and allow copulation
The barrier is removed and animals are allowed to copulate while dopamine levels continue to be measured
Note: Dopamine and metabolite levels continued to rise during copulation in intact males and castrates that copulated
View evidence from paper
“When the barrier was removed and the animals were allowed to copulate, levels of DA and its metabolites continued to rise”
Exposure to another male as control
Male rat is exposed to another male to test whether dopamine response is specific to sexual stimuli or due to nonsexual social stimuli
Note: Exposure to another male was ineffective in increasing dopamine levels
View evidence from paper
“The DA response to the estrous female could not be attributed to nonsexual social stimuli, since exposure to another male was ineffective”
Voluntary running wheel activity as motor control
Male rats run voluntarily in a running wheel to determine if increased dopamine during copulation is attributable to motor activity alone
Note: Voluntary running did not produce significantly increased dopamine levels
View evidence from paper
“animals running voluntarily in a running wheel did not show significantly increased DA”