Paced Mating Behavior

Sexual behavior is crucial for the survival of many species because through the display of this behavior males and females transmit genetic information assuring that it would be carried into the next generation. On the other hand, for individuals, sexual behavior is not crucial for their survival as is the case for eating and drinking. In fact, in different species, there are males and females who would not display sexual behavior despite they are tested repeatedly. Under appropriate hormonal conditions, males and females are an incentive for members of the opposite sex. An incentive is a stimulus, in this case, a male or a female, which activates an approach behavior. Early studies in rodents assumed that males had an active role, while females were passive mostly responding to the male. In this chapter, we will briefly review different methodologies used in rats to evaluate female sexual behavior demonstrating that they have an active role in sexual behavior. Then, we will describe in detail how pacing behavior is used to evaluate the distinct aspects of female sexual behavior. Finally, we will describe behavioral sex differences when males and females paced the sexual interaction.