Lesions confined to the ventromedial hypothalamus decrease the frequency of coital contacts in female rats.

Ovariectomized female rats received either bilateral radiofrequency lesions of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) or control treatments and were tested for copulatory activity following either estrogen (E) alone, or E plus progesterone (P) administration. In separate experiments the females were tested in two testing apparatuses both of which allowed the test females to control their contacts with sexually active males. One of the testing apparatuses also allowed the females to control their contacts with sexually inactive males and ovariectomized females. Females receiving VMH lesions engaged in fewer coital contacts with sexually active males than sham-operated females in the E plus P condition. Lesioned females also tended to spend less time with sexually active males than did sham operates in both the E and E plus P hormonal conditions. The VMH-lesioned females did not differ from the sham-operated females in the ability to display lordosis during the coital contacts or the frequency and duration of visits to the inactive males or ovariectomized females. The sham-operated females did have some transitory alterations in copulatory behavior in comparison to unoperated control females.