Constanze Lenschow (Alumni Lecture Series): Spinal control of copulatory behavior and sexual excitation

University of Magdeburg

We invite to our second alumni lecture series. Constanze (professor at the Universität Magdeburg) and right after her Robert Schmidt (professor at the Universität Bochum) will give a lecture and talk shortly about their career path.

After the talks we will organize a social with pizza and beer.

 

Abstract

In mammals, copulatory behavior involves a series of actions that bring the male to the ejaculatory threshold, allowing genital stimulation to trigger ejaculation. While copulation and sexual excitation are thought to be centrally regulated, ejaculation is a reflex controlled by a spinal circuit whose activity is strongly inhibited by descending input from the brain, bearing no role on the regulation of copulatory behavior until the ejaculatory threshold is reached. However, this hypothesis remains untested. To address this question, we combined genetic approaches with electrophysiological and behavioral analysis to functionally map the mouse spinal circuit controlling the main muscle involved in sperm expulsion, the bulbospongiosus muscle (BSM). We found that BSM motor neurons (BSM-MNs) receive direct synaptic input from a group of galanin-expressing (Gal+) interneurons located in the upper lumbar spinal cord. Furthermore, the Gal+ population is progressively activated during sexual behavior and is activated by stimulation of the genital region. Electrical and optogenetic activation of the Gal+ neurons evoked activity in BSM-MNs and BSM after spinalization. Interestingly, these effects were dependent on the behavioral state of the male prior to spinalization and drastically decreased with repeated stimulation. Moreover, genetic ablation of the Gal+ neurons severely impacted the latency to ejaculate and the copulatory sequence. Taken together, our results imply an unexpected involvement of the spinal cord in the control of copulatory behavior and sexual excitation.

 

Guests are welcome!

 

 

Organized by

Margret Franke/Lisa Velenosi

This alumni lecture series is financially supported by our Einstein Foundation Doctoral Program Computational Neuroscience.

Location: BCCN Berlin, Philippstr. 13 Haus 6, 10115 Berlin - lecture hall 9

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