Opioid and Male Sex Behavior
Opioids have been shown to stimulate male sex behavior.
Design:
- conditioned place preference is a test of motivation (desire to spend more time on one side of a chamber than the other)
- established conditioned place preference in male rats given the opportunity to mate on only one side of the chamber
- how much time would the males spend on the side of the chamber in which they had mated
- several variables: 1) sham-operated vs. castration, 2) given naloxone at varying doses or saline, and 3) testing the animals 7 days after surgery or 14 days