Female sexual behaviors comprise appetitive, action, and refractory phases.

The medial hypothalamus plays a central role in the neural circuits mediating all phases of female sexual behaviors.

The state of the sexual behavior circuits is under strong modulation of sex hormones.

The sexual behavior circuit is an integral part of the HPG axis feedback loop.

Reproduction is the biological process by which new individuals are produced by their parents. It is the fundamental feature of all known life and is required for the existence of all species. All mammals reproduce sexually, a process that involves the union of two reproductive cells, one from a male and one from a female. Sexual behaviors are a series of actions leading to reproduction. They are composed of appetitive, action, and refractory phases, each supported by dedicated developmentally-wired neural circuits to ensure high reproduction success. In rodents, successful reproduction can only occur during female ovulation. Thus, female sexual behavior is tightly coupled with ovarian activity, namely the estrous cycle. This is achieved through the close interaction between the female sexual behavior circuit and the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. In this review, we will summarize our current understanding, learned mainly in rodents, regarding the neural circuits underlying each phase of the female sexual behaviors and their interaction with the HPG axis, highlighting the gaps in our knowledge that require future investigation.

Female sexual behaviors

Neural circuits

HPG axis

Rodents

Sex hormones

© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.