Paced mating behavior is affected by clitoral-vaginocervical lidocaine application in combination with sexual experience

• DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.12.043
• Publication Date: 2014-12-27T06:46:50Z
• Authors: Sarah H. Meerts; Helen K. Strnad; Rosemary S. Schairer
• Keywords: Male; Lidocaine; Clitoris; Rats; Sexual Behavior, Animal; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Physical Stimulation; Vagina; Animals; Female; Rats, Long-Evans; Anesthetics, Local

The present study tested the effects of lidocaine anesthetic ointment applied to the vaginocervical (Experiment 1) or clitoral-vaginocervical (Experiment 2) areas on the display of paced mating behavior over the course of five weekly tests in ovariectomized, hormone-primed, Long-Evans rats. Experiment 3 tested whether rats that acquired sexual experience without ointment application would exhibit altered paced mating behavior on a fifth test under clitoral-vaginocervical lidocaine or vehicle application. Although rats in Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 exhibited shorter contact-return latencies after intromission and reduced likelihood of leaving the male compartment following mounts and intromissions after gaining sexual experience, only rats that received clitoral-vaginocervical lidocaine exhibited altered paced mating behavior relative to vehicle. Specifically, clitoral-vaginocervical lidocaine resulted in shorter contact-return latency to ejaculation and greater percentage of time with the male. Paced mating behavior of sexually experienced rats in Experiment 3 was not disrupted when tested after clitoral-vaginocervical lidocaine treatment. Together, these studies suggest that the sensory input during repeated mating encounters affects the pattern of paced mating behavior that develops with sexual experience.