Biological predictors of masculine sexual behavior in prenatally stressed and nonstressed rats

Abstract

Sexual activity values, volume measures of the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA), and testosterone levels of a sample of 30 male offspring selected from litters born to control and prenatally stressed mothers were intercorrelated. The resulting correlations were then submitted to partial correlational analyses in order to determine the relative contributions of anatomical structure and testosterone levels in mediating sexual behavior. It was observed that SDN-POA volume was a better predictor of sexual activity than were testosterone levels. © 1992, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.