Locus Coeruleus in Non-Mammalian Vertebrates

The locus coeruleus (LC) is a vertebrate-specific nucleus and the primary source of norepinephrine (NE) in the brain. This nucleus has conserved properties across species: highly homogeneous cell types, a small number of cells but extensive axonal projections, and potent influence on brain states. Comparative studies on LC benefit greatly from its homogeneity in cell types and modularity in projection patterns, and thoroughly understanding the LC-NE system could shed new light on the organization principles of other more complex modulatory systems. Although studies on LC are mainly focused on mammals, many of the fundamental properties and functions of LC are readily observable in other vertebrate models and could inform mammalian studies. Here, we summarize anatomical and functional studies of LC in non-mammalian vertebrate classes, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds, on topics including axonal projections, gene expressions, homeostatic control, and modulation of sensorimotor transformation. Thus, this review complements mammalian studies on the role of LC in the brain.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  Brain Science

• Publication date

  2022-01-20

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/brainsci12020134PMID 35203898PMCID 8870555
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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