The effects of inhibition of locus coeruleus neuronal discharge activity on cortical and hippocampal electroencephalographic activity were examined in halothane-anesthetized rats. A combined recording/infusion probe was used to place 35-150-nl infusions of the alpha 2-noradrenergic agonist, clonidine (1 ng/nl) which inhibits locus coeruleus neuronal discharge activity, immediately adjacent to t...

The postictal state is generally followed by antinociception. It is known that connections between the dorsal raphe nucleus, the periaqueductal gray matter, and the locus coeruleus, an important noradrenergic brainstem nucleus, are involved in the descending control of ascending nociceptive pathways. The aim of the present study was to determine whether noradrenergic mechanisms in the locus coe...

The relationship between discharge rates of locus coeruleus noradrenergic neurons and rates of norepinephrine release was examined in the anesthetized rat. Neuronal discharge rates of locus coeruleus neurons were altered and quantified using a combined recording-infusion probe. Peri-locus coeruleus infusions of either the cholinergic agonist, bethanechol, or the a2-agonist, clonidine, were used...

Cataplexy, a symptom of narcolepsy, is a loss of muscle tone usually triggered by sudden, emotionally significant stimuli. We now report that locus coeruleus neurons cease discharge throughout cataplexy periods in canine narcoleptics. Locus coeruleus discharge rates during cataplexy were as low as or lower than those seen during rapid-eye-movement sleep. Prazosin, an alpha1 antagonist, and phys...

introduction: pain as a complex process in the cns has been extensively studied by many researchers. it has been found that pain is controlled by certain pathways in the cns, one of most important of which is the descending noradrenergic system. the pathway begins with locus coeruleus (lc) nucleus and ends in the spinal cord. in this study, formalin test was used as a chemical and tonic pain te...

introduction: the effects of electromagnetic fields on biological organisms have been a controversial and also interesting debate over the past few decades, despite the wide range of investigations, many aspects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (elf/emfs) effects including mechanism of their interaction with live organisms and also their possible biological applications still r...

introduction: in the present work, spontaneous postsynaptic currents were assessed to investigate the postnatal development of excitatory postsynaptic currents in locus coeruleus neurons. methods: in this study, ampa and nmda receptor-mediated spontaneous synaptic currents in the neurons of locus coeruleus were assessed using whole cell voltage-clamp recording during the first three weeks. resu...

introduction: pain as a complex process in central nervous system (cns) has been studied by many researchers. pain is controlled by several cns pathways, one of the most important of which, is the descending noradrenergic system. this system begins from locus coeruleus (lc) nucleus in pons and ends in the spinal cord. in this research, the effect of pain induced by formalin was studied. methods...

objective(s):the relationship between tramadol, as an antinociceptive drug, and locus coeruleus (lc), the main noradrenergic nucleus of the brain that affects regulation and modulation of pain through descending noradrenergic pathways was investigated. materials and methods: male sprague-dawley rats were divided into four groups of 10 rats. the rats were fixed in stereotaxic instrument and then...

BACKGROUND The corticotropin-releasing factor is a stress-related neuropeptide that modulates locus coeruleus activity. As locus coeruleus has been involved in pain and stress-related patologies, we tested whether the pain-induced anxiety is a result of the corticotropin-releasing factor released in the locus coeruleus. METHODS Complete Freund's adjuvant-induced monoarthritis was used as infl...