Male risk taking, female odors, and the role of estrogen receptors

[摘要] Male risk-taking and decision making are affected by sex-related cues, with men making riskier choices and decisions after exposure to either women or stimuli associated with women. In non-human species females and, or their cues can also increase male risk taking. Under the ecologically relevant condition of predation threat, brief exposure of male mice to the odors of a sexually receptive novel female reduces the avoidance of, and aversive responses to, a predator. We briefly review evidence showing that estrogen receptors (ERs), ER alpha and ER beta, are associated with the mediation of these risk taking responses. We show that ERs influence the production of the female odors that affect male risk taking, with the odors of wild type (ER alpha WT, ER beta WT), oxytocin (OT) wildtype (OTWT), gene-deleted 'knock-out' ER ER beta (ER beta KO), but not ER beta KO or oxytocin (OT) OTKO or ovariectomized (OVX) female mice reducing the avoidance responses of male mice to cat odor. We further show that administration of specific ER alpha and ER beta agonists to OVX females results in their odors increasing male risk taking and boldness towards a predator. We also review evidence that ERs are involved in the mediation of the responses of males to female cues, with ER alpha being associated with the sexual and both ER beta and ER alpha with the sexual and social mechanisms underlying the effects of female cues on male risk taking. The implications and relations of these findings with rodents to ERs and the regulation of human risk taking are briefly considered. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[发布日期] 2012-12-05

[关键词] Boldness;Decision making;Predator odor;Anxiety;Fear;Social behavior;Social recognition;Sexual behavior;Oxytocin