Conditioned partner preference in female rats for strain of male

Abstract

Female rats show conditioned place preference following paced copulation, and we have recently demonstrated that pairing almond odor with paced copulation induces a conditioned partner preference for almond-scented males. The present study examined whether cues of two different strains of male (albino and pigmented) induce a conditioned partner preference for the strain of male associated with paced copulation. Ovariectomized, hormone-primed Wistar (W) or Long-Evans (LE) female rats received 10 conditioning trials at 4-day intervals. In the Wistar-pacing group females copulated with W males in a chamber bisected by a 4-hole partition that only the female could pass through. Four days later, they copulated with LE males without the partition. The Long-Evans-pacing group received the opposite association. In the final preference test all females chose freely between two males tethered in opposite corners of an open field, one W and one LE. Regardless the strain of male, females displayed more solicitations toward the pacing-related male, and most of the females received their first ejaculation from that male. The preference was facilitated if the pacing-related male was of the same strain as the female. These results suggest that female rats have an unconditioned preference for males of the same strain, but this preference can be switched towards males of a different strain if that male is associated with the sexual reward induced by paced copulation.