Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2003-3-4
pubmed:abstractText
Courtship clasping, a reproductive behavior in male roughskin newts (Taricha granulosa), is rapidly blocked by an action of corticosterone (CORT) at a specific neuronal membrane receptor. The CORT-induced impairment of clasping in behaving newts appears to be mediated partly by an elimination of clasping-related activity in medullary reticulospinal neurons. Previous studies of rapid CORT actions in Taricha have focused on the brain, so existence of CORT action in the spinal cord or peripheral nervous system has not been assessed. The present study used newts with a high cervical spinal transection to examine potential spinal or peripheral CORT effects on clasping by the hindlimbs in response to pressure on the cloaca. Spinal transection causes clasps elicited by cloacal stimulation to be very sustained beyond the termination of the eliciting stimulus. In spinally transected newts, CORT caused a dose-dependent depression in the duration as well as quality of the clasp that appeared within 10 min of injection. CORT selectively impaired the usual sustained maintenance of a clasp after termination of cloacal stimulation, but not clasp elicitation during stimulation. These effects were not produced by dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid that binds poorly to the CORT membrane receptor. The CORT effect on clasp maintenance but not clasp elicitation implies selective action on an intraspinal generator for clasping but not on sensory or efferent neuromuscular aspects of the response. These results indicate the presence in the newt spinal cord of the CORT membrane receptor that exerts functional effects distinctly different from those on the brainstem.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
0018-506X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
43
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
93-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2003
pubmed:articleTitle
Rapid corticosterone-induced impairment of amplectic clasping occurs in the spinal cord of roughskin newts (taricha granulosa).
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA. cml@uwyo.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't