RT journal article
T1 The Role of the Locus Coeruleus in Pain and Associated Stress-Related Disorders
A1 Suárez-Pereira, Irene
A1 Llorca Torralba, Meritxell
A1 Bravo García, Lidia
A1 Camarena Delgado, María del Carmen
A1 Soriano-Mas, Carles
A1 Berrocoso Domínguez, Esther María
A2 Neurociencias
A2 Psicología
AB The locus coeruleus (LC)-noradrenergic system is the main source of noradrenaline in the central nervous system andis involved intensively in modulating pain and stress-related disorders (e.g., major depressive disorder and anxiety)and in their comorbidity. However, the mechanisms involving the LC that underlie these effects have not been fullyelucidated, in part owing to the technical difficulties inherent in exploring such a tiny nucleus. However, novelresearch tools are now available that have helped redefine the LC system, moving away from the traditional view ofLC as a homogeneous structure that exerts a uniform influence on neural activity. Indeed, innovative techniques suchas DREADDs (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) and optogenetics have demonstrated thefunctional heterogeneity of LC, and novel magnetic resonance imaging applications combined with pupillometry haveopened the way to evaluate LC activity in vivo. This review aims to bring together the data available on the efferentactivity of the LC-noradrenergic system in relation to pain and its comorbidity with anxiodepressive disorders. Acutepain triggers a robust LC stress response, producing spinal cord–mediated endogenous analgesia while promotingaversion, vigilance, and threat detection through its ascending efferents. However, this protective biological systemfails in chronic pain, and LC activity produces pain facilitation, anxiety, increased aversive memory, and behavioraldespair, acting at the medulla, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala levels. Thus, the activation/deactivation of specific LCprojections contributes to different behavioral outcomes in the shift from acute to chronic pain.
PB ELSEVIER
SN 1873-2402
YR 2022
FD 2022-05
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27178
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27178
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026