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A Hypothalamic Mechanism causing Seminal Ejaculation

Abstract

ON purely behavioural grounds, Beach and Jordan1 have postulated that copulation is controlled by two separate systems: an arousal mechanism which initiates it, and a copulatory–ejaculatory mechanism which ends it. Vaughan and Fisher2 have since reported a site in the pre-optic area of the rat which excites copulation when stimulated, while MacLean and Ploog3 have listed more than 150 sites along the base of the monkey brain which yielded penile erection. But seminal ejaculation following hypothalamic stimulation was not seen, nor was it reported in any of the investigations of hypothalamic function pioneered by Hess.

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References

  1. Beach, F. A., and Jordan, L., Quart. J. Exp. Psychol., 8, 121 (1956).

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  2. Vaughan, E., and Fisher, A. E., Science, 137, 758 (1962).

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  3. MacLean, P. D., and Ploog, D. W., J. Neuophysiol., 25, 29 (1962).

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  4. Herberg, L. J., J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. (in the press).

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HERBERG, L. A Hypothalamic Mechanism causing Seminal Ejaculation. Nature 198, 219–220 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/198219b0

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