Impact of generalized brain arousal on sexual behavior

Although there is an extensive amount known about specific sensory and motor functions of the vertebrate brain, less is understood about the regulation of global brain states. We have recently proposed that a function termed generalized arousal (Ag) serves as the most elemental driving force in the nervous system, responsible for the initial activation of all behavioral responses. An animal with increased generalized CNS arousal is characterized by greater motor activity, increased responsivity to sensory stimuli, and greater emotional lability. Implicit in this theory was the prediction that increases in generalized arousal would augment specific motivated behaviors that depend on arousal. Here, we address the idea directly by testing two lines of mice bred for high or low levels of generalized arousal and assessing their responses in tests of specific forms of behavioral arousal, sex and anxiety/exploration. We report that animals selected for differential generalized arousal exhibit marked increases in sensory, motor, and emotional reactivity in our arousal assay. Furthermore, male mice selected for high levels of generalized arousal were excitable and showed more incomplete mounts before the first intromission (IN), but having achieved that IN, they exhibited far fewer IN before ejaculating, as well as ejaculating much sooner after the first IN, thus indicating a high level of sexual arousal. Additionally, high-arousal animals of both sexes exhibited greater levels of anxiety-like behaviors and reduced exploratory behavior in the elevated plus maze and light-dark box tasks. Taken together, these data illustrate the impact of Ag on motivated behaviors.