Retrochiasmatic frontolateral knife cuts (FLC) or sham operations (Sham) were performed with a Halasz-type knife. All animals were primed with estrogen plus 0.5 mg progesterone (P) and tested for lordosis both before and after surgery. Two weeks after the last test they received estradiol (E2) in Silastic capsules and were sacrificed 2 days later for determination of either nuclear estrogen receptors or cytosol progestin receptor binding in brain and pituitary (PIT). Rats which had received FLC showed significantly lower lordosis quotients relative to Shams, and relative to their own pre-surgery scores. Nuclear E2-receptor binding was significantly reduced in the hypothalamus (HYPO) following FLC, but not in preoptic area (POA) or PIT. No changes in cytosol P-receptor binding were observed in HYPO, POA or PIT following FLC. Our results suggest a positive correlation between the number of hypothalamic E2-receptors and the capacity to display lordosis, and emphasize the importance of anterolateral connections to the HYPO for the progesterone-induced facilitation of lordosis.