neuromelanin (nm) pigment accumulates with age in catecholaminergic neurons in man, and the ventral substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons that are the most vulnerable to degeneration in parkinson's disease (pd) contain the greatest amount of this pigment. in vitro data indicate that nm pigment is formed from the excess cytosolic catecholamine that is not accumulated into synaptic vesicles via t...

introduction: oxytocin is a active neuropeptide of central nervous system. in this study the effects of naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist) and yohimbine (α-2 adrenergic receptor antagonist) on analgesic effect of oxytocin applied into the locus coeruleus (lc) nucleus were investigated. methods: adult male wistar rats were used. animals divided into different groups receiving saline, oxytocin...

The norepinephrine transporter (NET) is a site of action for tricyclic antidepressant drugs and for drugs of abuse such as amphetamine and cocaine. In this study, the binding of [3H]nisoxetine to NETs in the noradrenergic cell group, the locus coeruleus, and the serotonergic cell groups, the dorsal raphe nuclei, was measured autoradiographically in postmortem human brain. [3H]nisoxetine binding...

Pons ta tüp şeklinde bir anatomik şekle sahip olan locus coeruleus küçük yapısına rağmen nerdeyse tüm merkezi sinir sistemini (M.S.S’yi) etkilemektedir. Yaklaşık iki yüzyıl önce fark edilen coeruleus, noradrenalin kaynağı olup hücrelerinin içerdiği nöromelanin pigmentinden kaynaklı koyu mavi olarak görülmektedir. Bu nedenle, Latince’de (gökyüzü mavisi) isimlendirilmiştir. Ponsta bilateral yerle...

Depression can influence pain and vice versa, yet the biological mechanisms underlying how one influences the pathophysiology of the other remains unclear. Dysregulation of locus coeruleus-noradrenergic transmission is implicated in both conditions, although it is not known whether this effect is exacerbated in cases of co-morbid depression and chronic pain. We studied locus coeruleus activity ...

AIM Neuronal degeneration in the locus coeruleus occurs in the early phase of Alzheimer's disease, similar to mild cognitive impairment. The locus coeruleus produces norepinephrine, a deficiency of which causes both memory disturbance and psychological symptoms. Thus, we evaluated signal alterations in the locus coeruleus of patients with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment using ...

Locus coeruleus neurons are strongly coupled during early postnatal development, and it has been proposed that these neurons are linked by extraordinarily abundant gap junctions consisting of connexin32 (Cx32) and connexin26 (Cx26), and that those same connexins abundantly link neurons to astrocytes. Based on the controversial nature of those claims, immunofluorescence imaging and freeze-fractu...

Aerobic fitness is consistently and robustly associated with superior performance on assessments of cognitive control. One potential mechanism underlying this phenomenon activation the locus-coeruleus. Specifically, individuals greater aerobic may be better able to sustain engagement in a cognitively demanding task via ability meet metabolic demands neural system. Accordingly, present investiga...

Fear generalization to stimuli resembling a conditioned danger-cue (CS+) is fundamental dynamic of classical fear-conditioning. Despite the ubiquity fear in human experience and its known pathogenic contribution clinical anxiety, neural investigations have only recently begun. The present work provides first meta-analysis this growing literature delineate brain substrates fear-generalization fo...

N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is the third most prevalent and widely distributed neurotransmitter in the mammalian nervous system. NAAG activates a group II metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR3) and is inactivated by an extracellular enzyme, glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) in vivo. Inhibitors of this enzyme are analgesic in animal models of inflammatory, neuropathic and bone cancer ...