Mechanisms of behaviors related to reproduction

Abstract

Research on reproductive behavior, in particular, its dependence on gonadal hormones, has a relatively short history. This chapter starts with an introduction of pioneering idea proposed by Geoffrey Harris in Cambridge in 1950s, to whom the idea of brain control of anterior pituitary can be attributed. The group of Phoenix initiated research on the opposite direction, i.e., the effects of gonadal hormones on the brain on its sexual differentiation, thus established a concept of endocrine control of the brain in enduring and acute manners. Behavioral studies began and continued in earnest by Charles Sawyer in Los Angeles and Masazumi Kawakami in Yokohama. A series of elegant experiments initiated by Donald W. Pfaff added substantial understanding of hypothalamic mechanism for estrogen-dependent female rat sexual behavior.