BACKGROUND "Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine and metabolic disorder associated with ovulatory dysfunction". "Autonomic and central nervous systems play important roles in the regulation of ovarian physiology". The noradrenergic nucleus locus coeruleus (LC) plays a central role in the regulation of the sympathetic nervous system and synaptically connected to the preganglio...

Age-dependent changes in the axonal branching patterns of single locus coeruleus neurons, which innervate both the frontal cortex and hippocampus dentate gyrus, have been studied in male F344 rats. We used an electrophysiological approach involving antidromic activation to differentiate single from multi-threshold locus coeruleus neurons in each terminal field with age (7-27 mo of age). Most of...

The adrenergic system has an important role in normal central nervous system function as well as in brain disease. The locus coeruleus, the main source of norepinephrine in brain, is involved in the regulation of learning and memory, reinforcement of sleep-wake cycle and synaptic plasticity. In Alzheimer’s disease, locus coeruleus degeneration is observed early in the course of the disease, yea...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder and is characterized pathologically by degeneration of catecholaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta and locus coeruleus, among other regions. Autosomal-recessive juvenile Parkinsonism (ARJP) is caused by mutations in the PARK2 gene coding for parkin and constitutes the most common familial form of...

Alertness, the most basic intensity aspect of attention, probably is a prerequisite for the more complex and capacity demanding domains of attention selectivity. Behaviorally, intrinsic alertness represents the internal (cognitive) control of wakefulness and arousal; typical tasks to assess optimal levels of intrinsic alertness are simple reaction time measurements without preceding warning sti...

Several "locomotor regions" of the mammalian brain stem can be stimulated, either electrically or chemically, to induce locomotion. Active cells labeled with c-fos within the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) have been found in the periaqueductal gray, the cuneiform nucleus, the pedunculopontine nucleus, and the locus coeruleus. Different subsets of these nuclei appear to be activated during...