BOSTON - Rhesus monkeys like to have sex and so should human beings, according to a researcher at Yerkes Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta.
Sexual desire in both rhesus monkeys and humans is caused by the estradiol hormone, a form of estrogen. This hormone allows each of the species to have sex at any time, rather than only during a certain time in the females' cycle, said Kim Wallen, an Emory professor of psychological biology.
While studying rhesus monkeys during the last 15 years, Wallen has found female monkeys who are not around other females have sex with several different partners during their cycle, while females in close contact with other females have sex only while they are ovulating.
Like humans, whose sex drives can be influenced by factors such as salary raises, celebrations and children, monkeys' sexual desire is influenced by social factors, researchers said. For example, peer pressure from the other females in the group discourage them to have sex.
Wallen concluded that rhesus monkeys view sex as more than just procreation.
They use it for enjoyment and even as a tool.
"Because females can have sex at any time in their cycle, prostitution is possible," Wallen said.
The idea that hormones play a part in sexual desire has long been a controversy in the psychological biology field, but Wallen says that he hopes his studies change that belief and lead to a greater understanding of human sexual desire.
Wallen is now researching sexual desire in young Rhesus monkeys, and whether they are taught by the adult monkeys to enjoy sex.
"I really don't know much about the development of sexual desire," he said, "though I am pretty confident that it is not taught any more than liking chocolate ice cream is taught."
Research done with human subjects complements Wallen's work. A study done in German discos compared the amount of skin showing through a female's outfit to the amount of estradiol present in her saliva. The researcher found that as the amount of exposed skin increased, so did the amount of estradiol.
Wallen is in the process of studying the flow of these hormones to the brain and how that affects sexual desire. He hypothesizes that while testosterone, the male hormone that causes sexual desire, is constant in males, estradiol is intermittent in females, peaking once during ovulation.
Once released, the hormone provides motivation for sex
03-25-99
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