Influences of dopamine and glutamate in the medial preoptic area on male sexual behavior

• Dopamine and glutamate in the mPOA regulate male sexual behavior.
• Nitric oxide and steroid hormones impact the role of dopamine and glutamate.
• The mPOA may play a role in behavioral changes that follow sexual experience.

Several brain nuclei interact to orchestrate the appetitive and consummatory aspects of male sexual behavior. Of these structures, the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the hypothalamus is of particular interest, as it receives input from all sensory modalities, and damage to this region disrupts copulation in a wide variety of taxa. Furthermore, the mPOA is both responsive to gonadal hormones and involved in endocrine regulation. Neurochemical studies have demonstrated that both dopamine and glutamate levels rise in the mPOA in response to sexual activity, while antagonism of these neurotransmitters impairs male sexual response. Here we review how dopamine and glutamate act in the mPOA to modulate male sexual behavior.