Isolation-induced facilitation of male sexual behavior in mice.

Compared sexual performance of 288 CD-1 male mice housed individually or in groups of 3 or 12. Exp I examined males presented at weekly intervals with ovariectomized, estrogen-primed, progesterone-treated females. Performance in isolates was consistently superior and reached an asymptote that was twice that of grouped Ss. Reversal of housing conditions reversed performance. Exp II varied intervals of isolation among Ss finding facilitation at several intervals. Exp III compared Ss under different population densities. Density did not alter the effects of isolation and grouping. In all experiments, additional tests with target males indicated that aggressive and sexual performances were moderately correlated and responded similarly to parametric manipulations. These results parallel and extend studies of isolation-induced aggression. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)