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Locus Ceruleus

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

  • 102 Accesses

Synonyms

Blue spot; Nucleus pigmentosus pontis

Definition

Locus ceruleus (Latin, “place, dark blue”) is a pigmented noradrenergic nucleus located in the dorsorostral pons.

Current Knowledge

Locus ceruleus (also spelled locus coeruleus) contains 30,000–35,000 neurons and is made up of four subnuclei: central (largest), anterior, ventral, and posterior dorsal. The locus ceruleus is dark blue in sections, melanin granules inside the pigmented cells of locus ceruleus contribute to its blue color. The neurons of locus ceruleus provide noradrenergic innervations to most regions of the central nervous system. The projections of the locus ceruleus include spinal cord, brain stem, cerebellum, thalamic relay nuclei, amygdala, basal telencephalon, and cortex. The norepinephrine from the locus ceruleus has an excitatory effect on most of the brain, mediating arousal and attention processing. The locus ceruleus is targeted by several endogenous opioid peptides, e.g. enkephalin, excitatory...

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References and Readings

  • Aston-Jones, G., & Cohen, J. D. (2005). An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: adaptive gain and optimal performance. Annu Rev Neurosci, 28, 403–450.

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  • Berridge, C. W. & Waterhouse, B. D. (2003). The locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system: Modulation of behavioural and state-dependent cognitive processes. Brain Research: Brain Research Reviews, 42, 33–84.

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  • Ordway, G. A., Schwartz, M. A., & Frazer, A. (2007). Brain norepinephrine: Neurobiology and therapeutics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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  • Van Bockstaele, E. J., Reyes, B. A., & Valentino, R. J. (2010). The locus coeruleus: A key nucleus where stress and opioids intersect to mediate vulnerability to opiate abuse. Brain Research, 1314, 162–174.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1112 E. Clay Street, 980524, 23298-0565, Richmond, VA, USA

    Galya Abdrakhmanova

Authors
  1. Galya Abdrakhmanova
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Professor of Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry Virginia Commonwealth University – Medical Center Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, VCU, 980542, Richmond, Virginia, 23298-0542, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation Research Center, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, 07052, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Neurology and Neuroscience, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  4. Independent Practice, 564 M.O.B. East, 100 E. Lancaster Ave., Wynnewood, PA, 19096, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Abdrakhmanova, G. (2011). Locus Ceruleus. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_330

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_330

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-79947-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-79948-3

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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