Lecture 5: Male Reproductive Behaviors

Question 1

What is the goal of male reproductive behavior?

Answer 1

To deliver male gametes (sperm) to female gametes (ova)

Question 2

Since males have billions of gametes and females have few, how does this change their behavior?

Answer 2

Males: put little to no energy investment into reproducing
Females: put a lot of energy and resources into it, making them more “choosy.”

Question 3

What theory states that organisms adaptively allocate their limited time and resources to maximize their relative reproductive success?

Answer 3

Life History Theory

Question 4

Male sex behavior can be divide into two components ___ and ___.
What two components regulate these?

Answer 4

Sexual motivation (sex drive) and sexual performance (reproductive ability and success)
-Endocrine and nervous system

Question 5

In the case of elephant seals, the males will fight for the best ____ beach areas because females prefer to have their pups near the water

Answer 5

Waterfront

Question 6

In elephant seals, the low ranking males will often challenge the high ranking males (those at the waterfront) for a chance to mate. This is an example of ____ ____

Answer 6

Sexual motivation

Question 7

What type of courtship behavior do manikins exhibit? What is it regulated by?

Answer 7

Wing snap; regulated by activation effect of androgens

Question 8

In manakins, ____ activates specialized ___ neurons, which control wing movement and result in wing snap

Answer 8

Testosterone; motor neurons

Question 9

According to the paper by Ronay and Hippel (2010) human males are more likely to show ___ ___ in front of a female observer ; they were also shown to have elevated levels of __

Answer 9

Risky behaviors; testosterone

Question 10

Do androgens cause male reproductive behaviors?

Answer 10

No, they affect likelihood of mating behaviors by reducing threshold for behavior in the presence of the appropriate stimuli and social context

Question 11

What are the three reproductive behaviors in males?

Answer 11

Mounting, Intromission (insertion of penis) and Ejaculation (release of semen)

Question 12

What researcher determined the age at which male rats first exhibit copulatory behavior? Relevant findings?

Answer 12

-Calvin P Stone; evaluated presence of male reproductive behaviors
-The average age of first copulation in male rats is 50 days old!

Question 13

After castration, male rats maintain copulatory ability for how many days?

Answer 13

14 days

Question 14

Seasonal breeders display a ‘natural castration’ during non-breeding seasons in response to shorter or longer days (daylight). How does this affect the testes and gonadal hormone levels? Big point?

Answer 14

-Causes regression of testes and decline in gonadal hormone levels
-Therefore: testosterone treatment (but not necessarily testes) can restore sexual behavior in post-castration adult males

Question 15

True or False: More testosterone is needed to restore vs. maintain reproductive behavior in males

Answer 15

True

Question 16

The longer the period of mount latency, the lower the __ ___

Answer 16

Sexual motivation

Question 17

What kind of test can be used to study male sexual motivation (sex drive)?

Answer 17

Obstruction Test

Question 18

When ____, a region in the hypothalamus, is lesioned, male reproductive behavior in virtually every vertebrate species is reduced or eliminated

Answer 18

Preoptic Area

Question 19

The pre-optic area affects sexual ___ but not ___

Answer 19

Sexual performance; sexual motivation

Question 20

The ____, a brain structure, releases GnRH and is activated as soon as male meet receptive female

Answer 20

Medial POA

Question 21

Blocking sense of smell, such as through olfactory bulbectomy, usually decrease ___ and ___ behaviors

Answer 21

Social and reproductive behaviors
(can also impact sexual performance and sexual motivation, with variable or conflict findings across studies)

Question 22

The olfactory bulb projects to the ___ and that structure projects to the ____

Answer 22

Amygdala ; Medial Pre-Optic Area (mPOA)

Question 23

In general, the ___—a structure in the brain—integrates sensory information, including relevant information for reproductive behaviors

Answer 23

amygdala

Question 24

The basolateral amygdala is involved in ______ while the corticomedial amygdala is involved in _____

Answer 24

Sexual motivation; sexual performance

Question 25

The enhanced and renewed mating performance by a male with a novel female, particularly after just mating with a female is known as the _____ ____

Answer 25

Coolidge Effect