The effects of nutritional deficits on reproductive behavior are very important for a number of reasons. In society today, some people are fasting and dieting, even though food is plentiful and they can afford to eat a balanced diet. In other socioeconomic classes or in other countries (e.g., developing nations), food is scarce. Dietary restrictions can have a major impact on reproductive behavior particularly for women, in that reproduction is energetically expensive. The proposal is to use an animal model (the meadow vole) to examine the effects of food deprivation on three aspects of reproductive behavior (attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity) as well as the mechanisms (both hormonal and metabolic) that affect these behaviors. The proposal provided new insights about the various aspects of reproductive behavior since most previous studies have only examined the effects of nutritional deficiency on one aspect of receptivity, lordosis, in females. This application provides an interesting set of experiments are proposed to examine the effects of food deprivation on attractivity, proceptivity, and receptivity as well as on the metabolic and endocrine mechanisms that mediate them. The experiments tests predictions of the metabolic fuels hypothesis and the reproduction at all costs hypothesis and determine the metabolic and endocrine signals that are necessary and sufficient to maintain reproductive physiology and the components of sexual behavior in both males and females. The proposal tests hypotheses centered on 1) the effects of food deprivation on the three components of sexual behavior; 2) the role of glucose utilization and lipid utilization on sexual behavior; 3) changes in steroid hormone concentrations (corticosterone, testosterone, and estradiol) that accompany food deprivation; 4) the role of these steroid hormones in mediating the effects of food deprivation on sexual behavior. The application is significant for its potential to expose undergraduates to research and for the new information that might be gained on the physiological regulation of sexual behavior. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA) (R15)
Project #
1R15HD049525-01A1
Application #
7012459
Study Section
Biobehavioral Regulation, Learning and Ethology Study Section (BRLE)
Program Officer
Lamar, Charisee A
Project Start
2006-03-15
Project End
2011-02-28
Budget Start
2006-03-15
Budget End
2011-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$209,250
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Memphis
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
055688857
City
Memphis
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
38152
Ferkin, Michael H; Hobbs, Nicholas J (2014) Female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, respond differently to the scent marks of multiple male conspecifics. Anim Cogn 17:715-22
Sabau, Ramona M; Ferkin, Michael H (2014) Maternal Food Restriction During Lactation Affects Body Weightand Sexual Behavior of Male Offspring in Meadow Voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Ethology 120:793-803
Vlautin, Christian T; Ferkin, Michael H (2014) Female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, do not alter their over-marking in response to female conspecifics that were food deprived. Acta Ethol 17:69-75
Sabau, Ramona M; Ferkin, Michael H (2013) Food deprivation and restriction during late gestation affects the sexual behavior of postpartum female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Ethology 119:
Vaughn, Ashlee A; Delbarco-Trillo, Javier; Ferkin, Michael H (2012) Re-feeding food-deprived male meadow voles affects the sperm allocation of their rival males. Ethology 118:1133-1139
Hobbs, Nicholas J; Finger, Antedra A; Ferkin, Michael H (2012) Effects of food availability on proceptivity: a test of the reproduction at all costs and metabolic fuels hypotheses. Behav Processes 91:192-7
Ferkin, Michael H (2010) Age affects over-marking of opposite-sex scent marks in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Ethology 116:24-31
Ferkin, Michael H; Ferkin, Daniel A; Ferkin, Benjamin D et al. (2010) Olfactory experience affects the response of meadow voles to the opposite-sex scent donor of mixed-sex over-marks. Ethology 116:821-831
Ferkin, Michael H; Pierce, Andrew A; Sealand, Robert O (2009) Gonadal hormones modulate sex differences in judgments of relative numerousness in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Horm Behav 55:76-83
Ferkin, Michael H; Combs, Amy; delBarco-Trillo, Javier et al. (2008) Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, have the capacity to recall the ""what"", ""where"", and ""when"" of a single past event. Anim Cogn 11:147-59

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