The locus coeruleus and noradrenergic modulation of cognition

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The locus coeruleus and noradrenergic modulation of cognition

Mood, attention and motivation co-vary with activity in the neuromodulatory

systems of the brain to influence behaviour. These psychological states,

mediated by neuromodulators, have a profound influence on the cognitive

processes of attention, perception and, particularly, our ability to retrieve

memories from the past and make new ones. Moreover, many psychiatric and

neurodegenerative disorders are related to dysfunction of these neuromodulatory

systems. Neurons of the brainstem nucleus locus coeruleus are the sole source of

noradrenaline, a neuromodulator that has a key role in all of these forebrain

activities. Elucidating the factors that control the activity of these neurons

and the effect of noradrenaline in target regions is key to understanding how

the brain allocates attention and apprehends the environment to select, store

and retrieve information for generating adaptive behaviour.

http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v10/n3/abs/nrn2573.html

Emotional enhancement of memory: how norepinephrine enables synaptic plasticity

http://www.molecularbrain.com/content/3/1/15