Connections
The projections of this nucleus reach far and wide. For example, they innervate the spinal cord, the brain stem, cerebellum, hypothalamus, the thalamic relay nuclei, the amygdala, the basal telencephalon, and the cortex. The norepinephrine from the LC has an excitatory effect on most of the brain, mediating arousal and priming the brain’s neurons to be activated by stimuli.
As an important homeostatic control center of the body, the locus coeruleus receives afferents from the hypothalamus. The cingulate gyrus and the amygdala also innervate the LC, allowing emotional pain and stressors to trigger noradrenergic responses. The cerebellum and afferents from the raphe nuclei also project to the LC, particularly the raphe pontis and raphe dorsalis.
The locus coeruleus receives inputs from a number of other brain regions, primarily:
- Medial prefrontal cortex, whose connection is constant, excitatory, and increases in strength with raised activity levels in the subject
- Nucleus paragigantocellularis, which integrates autonomic and environmental stimuli
- Nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, which is involved in gaze
- Lateral hypothalamus, which releases orexin, which, as well as its other functions, is excitatory in the locus coeruleus.
Read more about this topic: Locus Coeruleus
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