# Neurobiology of female sexual health

> **NIH NIH R15** · CARLETON COLLEGE · 2021 · $395,861

## Abstract

Project Summary
Sexual health contributes to women’s quality of life, emotional connections, and physical
pleasure but understanding of female sexual function is woefully limited. Sexual desire, the
interest and willingness to engage in sexual behavior, sexual arousal, the physiological response
of the genitals, and sexual satisfaction, the aspects of sexual activity that promote future sexual
interest, are overlapping aspects of female sexual function that feed back on each other to
support sexual health. Human sexual behavior can be mapped onto these constructs, as can
sexual behavior in rats, which enables experimental behavioral manipulation that would not be
possible in humans. The PI and her students have established a preclinical model of enhanced
sexual behavior in female rats, in which female rats exhibit heightened sexual desire, arousal,
and satisfaction. This novel model of experience-enhanced sexual behavior in female rats will be
used to better understand neural and peripheral factors that drive heightened sexual behavior.
The specific goals of this proposal are to 1) determine whether activity in the posterodorsal
medial amygdala during mating is key for experience-enhanced sexual behavior and motivation
in female rats; 2) test whether opioid-mediated reward underlies conditioned preference for a
single mating interaction in sexually experienced female rats; 3) establish whether opioid
reward systems are sensitized in sexually experienced female rats by assessing cross-
sensitization of mating and morphine; and 4) explore vaginal and clitoral morphology in rats
that show enhanced mating behavior. The research team’s approach to sexual behavior from a
position of health is innovative and will provide a better grasp of the neural and physiological
systems that promote future sexual interest to help establish effective therapies for female
sexual dysfunction. Furthermore, this proposal will enhance research opportunities at Carleton
College. Undergraduate students will participate in a broad spectrum of techniques thereby
acquiring skills in animal behavior, small animal surgery, immunofluorescence, microscopy,
pharmacological manipulations, data analysis, and science communication. The PI takes steps
to ensure underrepresented populations are invited to become student researchers in her lab
and to foster a sense of belonging within the lab community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10292015
- **Project number:** 1R15HD104100-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** CARLETON COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah Meerts
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $395,861
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-17 → 2025-09-16

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10292015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10292015, Neurobiology of female sexual health (1R15HD104100-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10292015. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*