Researchers from McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal have investigated, possibly for the first time in any species, the direct impact of pain on sexual behaviour in mice. Study found that pain from inflammation greatly reduced sexual motivation in female mice in heat -- but had no such effect on male mice.

“We know from other studies that women’s sexual desire is far more dependent on context than men’s – but whether this is due to biological or social/cultural factors, such as upbringing and media influence, isn’t known,” says Jeffrey Mogil,expert. “Our finding that female mice, too, show pain-inhibited sexual desire suggests there may be an evolutionary biology explanation for these effects in humans -- and not simply a sociocultural one.” He added.

Researchers placed mice in a mating chamber divided by a barrier with openings too small for male mice to squeeze through. This enabled the females to decide whether, and for how long, to spend time with a male partner. Female mice in pain spent less time on the “male side” of the testing chamber, and as a result less sexual behaviour occurred.

The researchers found that the sexual motivation of the female mice could be revived, however with a pain-relieving drug (pregabalin) or with either of two known desire-enhancing drugs.

Male mice, for their part, were tested in an undivided chamber in which they had free access to a female partner in heat. Their sexual behaviour was entirely unaffected by the same inflammatory pain. There were no differences in pain perception between the sexes, the researchers determined.

“Chronic pain is very often accompanied by sexual problems in humans,” says Prof. Yitzchak Binik, and This research provides an animal model of pain-inhibited sexual desire that will help scientists study this important symptom of chronic pain.