Avoidance and poke behavior in rats after gonadectomy and hormanal treatment.

The effects of gonadectomy and hormonal treatment upon such emotional behavior as discriminated lever-press avoidance and poke activity were examined in the rat. Gonadectomy at 2 mo of age significantly increased the avoidance of female animals but did not affect those of males or the poke performance of either sex. High, multiple, subcutaneous injections of estradiol benzoate (125 mug/kg), progesterone (80 mg/kg) or their combination led to significant declines in avoidance behavior among females spayed at 2 mo of age. Other significant findings included a sex difference in poke performance where intact females, compared to intact males, executed more responses. Significant decrements in poke behavior were also observed for all subjects, regardless of sex, during testing and from one session to the next.