Summary: the absence of a functional VNO (as in Trpc2-
deficient females), even low, female-typical
levels of testosterone may suffice to permit
high levels of male-typical behaviour.
Regardless of the mechanism involved,
however,itseemsthatoneormoremalephero-
mones inhibit mice from mounting other
male mice, and elicit aggressive behaviour in
males. So when male or female mice cannot
distinguish between the sexes, they initiate
male-typical mating routines towards all
conspecifics, presumably using pheromonal
cues sensed by the MOE5­8
(Fig. 1).
What does the work of Kimchi et al., taken
together with previous findings, tell us about
the functional role of structural differences
in the brain? As females can display male-
type mating patterns, it seems unlikely that
gender-specific effectors of mating patterns

Source: Ahlers, Guenter - Department of Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara
Zaanen, Jan - Leiden Institute of Physics, Universiteit Leiden

Collections: Physics