PMID- 15639177
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20050804
LR  - 20061115
IS  - 0166-4328 (Print)
IS  - 0166-4328 (Linking)
VI  - 157
IP  - 2
DP  - 2005 Feb 28
TI  - A sexually dimorphic hypothalamic nucleus in a macaque species with frequent 
      female-female mounting and same-sex sexual partner preference.
PG  - 265-72
AB  - In some captive and free-ranging populations, unmanipulated female Japanese 
      macaques (Macaca fuscata) routinely court, mount (with pelvic thrusting), compete 
      for, and even prefer, on occasion, certain female sexual partners over certain 
      males. The goal of this study was to determine if the cytoarchitecture of the 
      dorsocentral portion of the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHdc), was 
      male-typical in female Japanese macaques drawn from one such population. The AHdc 
      is located in the medial preoptic anterior hypothalamus (MPO-AH), a region of the 
      brain that is known to regulate sexual behaviour in primates. Despite their 
      potential for male-typical sexual behaviour and sexual partner preference, our 
      female subjects did not possess male-typical AHdc. The AHdc was significantly 
      larger in males than it was in females, a difference that could be attributed to 
      the significantly larger number of neurons in the male AHdc compared to that of 
      the females. The AHdc of female Japanese macaques were no more male-typical in 
      size than those of female rhesus macaques, a closely related sister species in 
      which females rarely exhibit male-typical sexual behaviour. Although the AHdc may 
      be involved in the regulation of sexual behaviour, this study indicates that a 
      male-typical AHdc is not a prerequisite for the expression of male-typical sexual 
      behaviour and sexual partner preference in Japanese macaques. This study is the 
      first to examine the relationship between sex-atypical sexual activity and the 
      cytoarchitecture of a hypothalamic nucleus in hormonally unmanipulated females.
FAU - Vasey, Paul L
AU  - Vasey PL
AD  - Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, 
      Alta., Canada T1K 3M4. paul.vasey@uleth.ca
FAU - Pfaus, James G
AU  - Pfaus JG
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Behav Brain Res
JT  - Behavioural brain research
JID - 8004872
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Anterior Hypothalamic Nucleus/*cytology/physiology
MH  - Choice Behavior/*physiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Macaca/*anatomy & histology/physiology
MH  - Male
MH  - Pair Bond
MH  - *Sex Characteristics
MH  - Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology
EDAT- 2005/01/11 09:00
MHDA- 2005/08/05 09:00
CRDT- 2005/01/11 09:00
PHST- 2004/03/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2004/07/08 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2004/07/12 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2005/01/11 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/08/05 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2005/01/11 09:00 [entrez]
AID - S0166-4328(04)00268-2 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.bbr.2004.07.005 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Behav Brain Res. 2005 Feb 28;157(2):265-72. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2004.07.005.