Robert W. Goy

Bio: Robert W. Goy is an academic researcher from University of Kansas. The author has contributed to research in topics: Estrous cycle & Estrogen. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 8 publications receiving 1982 citations.

Organizing action of prenatally administered testosterone propionate on the tissues mediating mating behavior in the female guinea pig.

Abstract: The sexual behavior of male and female guinea pigs from mothers receiving testosterone propionate during most of pregnancy was studied after the attainment of adulthood. As a part of the investigation, the responsiveness of the females to estradiol benzoate and progesterone and to testosterone propionate was determined. The larger quantities of testosterone propionate produced hermaphrodites having external genitalia indistinguishable macroscopicalty from those of newborn males. Gonadectomized animals of this type were used for tests of their responsiveness to estradiol benzoate and progesterone and to testosterone propionate. The capacity to display lordosis following administration of estrogen and progesterone was greatly reduced. Male-like mounting behavior, on the other hand, was displayed by many of these animals even when lordosis could not be elicited. Suppression of the capacity for displaying lordosis was achieved with a quantity of androgen less than that required for masculinization of the exte...

Hypothalamic regulation of female sexual behaviour; establishment of behavioural oestrus in spayed guinea-pigs following hypothalamic lesions.

Abstract: Individual characteristics of sexual behaviour were empirically determined for twenty-seven spayed female guinea-pigs given three standardized tests after injection with 0 034 mg ofoestradiol benzoate and, 36 hr later, 0-4 mg of progesterone. Following this pre¬ operative series of tests, hypothalamic lesions were produced electrolytically at different loci with various parameters of current duration and intensity. Alterations in the patterns of sexual behaviour displayed on three postoperative tests with identical hormonal treatments were evaluated statistically for each individual. Posteroventral hypothalamic lesions involving mammillary and premammillary structures were not associated with significant behavioural changes (JV equals 4). Mid-ventral lesions were associated with altera¬ tions in response patterns in all but two animals. The behavioural changes were not correlated with size of lesions. Nine females with complete behavioural losses failed to display any signs of receptivity postoperatively. Ten showed statistically significant but incomplete losses in one or more of the components comprising the pattern of sexual behaviour, and two females displayed behavioural oestrus post¬ operatively in the absence of exogenous hormone. Lesions in females with behavioural oestrus appear to be more anterior and possibly more medial than those which eliminate sexual behaviour. Uteri of behavioural-oestrous females were atrophie suggesting that no oestrogen

Strain Differences in the Behavioral Responses of Female Guinea Pigs To Alpha-Estradiol Benzoate and Progesterone 1)

Abstract: Using females from the highly inbred strains 2 and 13 and from a genetically heterogeneous stock (strain T), five measures of sexual behavior were investigated tfor the consistency with which they are displayed by each strain when equal and different quantities of α-estradiol benzoate are followed by a constant amount of progesterone. The five measures were 1) latency of estrus, 2) duration of estrus, 3) duration of the maximum lordosis, 4) frequency of male-like mounting, and 5) per cent of animals brought into heat by the treatment. From strain to strain there are consistent differences in the five measures. Strain 2 females show the shortest latencies, the longest duration of estrus, the least male-like mounting behavior, and the highest responsiveness to the estrogen. Their maximum lordosis which is intermediate in length is exhibited during the third hour of heat. Strain T females are characterized by long latencies, relatively short heat periods, and are intermediate with respect to mounting behavior and their responsiveness to α-estradiol benzoate. Their mean maximum lordosis is shortest and is exhibited during the first hour of heat. Strain 13 females display a latency and duration of heat similar to those which characterize the strain T females, but more male-like mounting than the other animals. They are least responsive to the estrogen. The mean maximum lordosis which is longest in this strain appears during the second hour of heat. The sexual vigor of strains 2 and 13 is greater than that of the strain T females. This order is opposite that in males from the same strains. The relatively vigorous sexual behavior of the inbred females is postulated to be of value for the perpetuation of these strains. Latency varied inversely and duration of heat directly with increases in the amount of α-estradiol benzoate, although with respect to the length of time that vigorous lordoses were elicited, above-threshold quantities were without effect on the response. Duration of lordosis and the frequency of mounting were not effected by changes in the amount of hormone. In general, therefore, the principle established for the male, that supra-liminal quantities of gonadal hormone do not alter the characteristic pattern of the behavior, can be extended to the female. The distinction between responsiveness to the hormone and vigor of the reaction is discussed.

Postnatal development of sensitivity to estrogen and androgen in male, female and psuedohermaphroditic guinea pigs†

Abstract: Lordosis responses on the day of birth were measured in female pseudohermaphrodites, their male siblings, and control females and males. All subjects displayed lordosis. Differences in average duration of the response were not significant. Relationships between exogenous estrogen and display of lordosis at later ages were studied in gonadectomized subjects. At seven days, estrogen did not induce lordosis in any subject. All normal females displayed lordosis at 21, 35, 60, and 90 days, and estrogen-sensitivity increased steadily. Pseudohermaphrodites failed to respond to hormones until 35 days, and responses were infrequent and abbreviated. Age at time of ovariectomy did not influence performance of pseudohermaphrodites. Males showed lowest responsiveness to estrogen over all ages. Pseudohermaphrodites resembled the male in postnatal responsiveness to androgen. Although postnatal testosterone induced mounting behavior in normal females, pseudohermaphrodites, like males, displayed more mounting and mounted at earlier ages. Results suggest that prenatal androgen has not impaired the neural mechanism for lordosis at birth. Rather it acts to alter, during the fetal stage, the mechanism which normally directs the development of estrogen-sensitivity of the neural mechanism in the genetic female. Additionally, prenatal androgen lowers the hormonal threshold for mounting behavior.

Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses

Abstract: For decades, studies of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have challenged traditional concepts in toxicology, in particular the dogma of “the dose makes the poison,” because EDCs can have effects at low doses that are not predicted by effects at higher doses. Here, we review two major concepts in EDC studies: low dose and nonmonotonicity. Low-dose effects were defined by the National Toxicology Program as those that occur in the range of human exposures or effects observed at doses below those used for traditional toxicological studies. We review the mechanistic data for low-dose effects and use a weight-of-evidence approach to analyze five examples from the EDC literature. Additionally, we explore nonmonotonic dose-response curves, defined as a nonlinear relationship between dose and effect where the slope of the curve changes sign somewhere within the range of doses examined. We provide a detailed discussion of the mechanisms responsible for generating these phenomena, plus hundreds of examples from...

Childhood Experience, Interpersonal Development, and Reproductive Strategy: An Evolutionary Theory of Socialization.

Abstract: The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite. The relation between this theory and prevailing theories of socialization, specifically, attachment, social-learning, and discrete-emotions theory, is considered and research consistent with our evolutionary theory is reviewed. Finally, directions for future research are discussed.

Sexing the body :gender politics and the construction ofsexuality

Abstract: Why do some people prefer heterosexual love while others fancy the same sex? Is sexual identity biologically determined or a product of convention? In this brilliant and provocative book, the acclaimed author of Myths of Gender argues that even the most fundamental knowledge about sex is shaped by the culture in which scientific knowledge is produced.Drawing on astonishing real-life cases and a probing analysis of centuries of scientific research, Fausto-Sterling demonstrates how scientists have historically politicized the body. In lively and impassioned prose, she breaks down three key dualisms - sex/gender, nature/nurture, and real/constructed - and asserts that individuals born as mixtures of male and female exist as one of five natural human variants and, as such, should not be forced to compromise their differences to fit a flawed societal definition of normality.

Atlas of estradiol-concentrating cells in the central nervous system of the female rat.

Abstract: Two hours following intraperitoneal injection, estradiol-H3 is concentrated by cells in a system of limbic and hypothalamic structures. Preoptic-hypothalamic nuclei containing estrogen-concentrating cells include the medial preoptic area, medial anterior hypothalamus, ventromedial nucleus, arcuate nucleus and ventral premammillary nucleus. Limbic structures include the medial and cortical nuclei of the amygdala, lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, diagonal band of Broca, olfactory tubercle, ventral hippocampus, and prepiriform and entorhinal cortex. Labelled cells were also found in the lateral and ventrolateral portions of the mesencephalic central grey. Compared to these regions, most other regions of the nervous system, including the spinal cord, have very small numbers of labelled cells, which are relatively weakly labelled, and are not found in regular, specific locations. The distribution of estrogen-concentrating cells determined with the present autoradiographic method agrees with previous autoradiographic conclusions and with biochemical results from cell fractionation experiments. The locations of estrogen-concentrating cells coincide in several brain regions with locations of estrogen-dependent neuroendocrine control mechanisms, as determined by brain implants, lesions, electrical stimulation, and electrophysiological recording. Moreover, experimental neuroanatomical studies have provided evidence for several pathways connecting regions which concentrate radioactive estradiol. Taken together, the evidence suggests a limbic-hypothalamic system of estrogen-concentrating neurons which participate in the control of mating behavior and of gonadotrophin release from the pituitary.

Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality

Abstract: Why do some people prefer heterosexual love while others fancy the same sex? Is sexual identity biologically determined or a product of convention? In this brilliant and provocative book, the acclaimed author of Myths of Gender argues that even the most fundamental knowledge about sex is shaped by the culture in which scientific knowledge is produced.Drawing on astonishing real-life cases and a probing analysis of centuries of scientific research, Fausto-Sterling demonstrates how scientists have historically politicized the body. In lively and impassioned prose, she breaks down three key dualisms - sex/gender, nature/nurture, and real/constructed - and asserts that individuals born as mixtures of male and female exist as one of five natural human variants and, as such, should not be forced to compromise their differences to fit a flawed societal definition of normality.