Different functionality of the medial and orbital prefrontal cortex during a sexually motivated task in rats

This study was designed to analyze whether the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of the medial (mPFC) and orbital prefrontal cortex (oPFC) was modified during the performance of male rats in a T maze under two different conditions, sexually motivated (with previous intromission and females in the goal boxes of the lateral arms) or sexually non-motivated (without previous intromission and with empty goal boxes). Relative power (RP) of three EEG band frequencies, and inter-hemispheric correlation (r) were calculated and a comparison was made between rats under motivated and non-motivated conditions. In the mPFC of sexually motivated males, an increase of the RP in the 6–7 Hz band as well as a decrease in the 8–11 Hz band was observed in relation to an awake–quiet state and during the walk in the maze stem. Similarly, an increase in the r of the 6–7 Hz band was observed during the walk in the maze stem and when remaining near to a receptive female, when compared to non-motivated males. In the oPFC, only the RP of the 6–7 Hz band was increased during the walk in the maze stem of the motivated males. These data suggest that, among sexually motivated males, the mPFC is involved both in anticipatory and motor execution during the performance of the T maze task, whereas the oPFC is only involved in the motor execution of the T maze. These results are in line with other studies suggesting that the mPFC and oPFC are functionally distinct, regions which may work together during certain behaviors and physiological conditions.