Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: revision of an old transmitter
- Part I The neurobiology of norepinephrine
- Part II Norepinephrine and behavior
- 6 Role of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system in arousal and circadian regulation of the sleep–wake cycle
- 7 The locus coeruleus and regulation of behavioral flexibility and attention: clinical implications
- 8 Norepinephrine and long-term memory function
- 9 Norepinephrine and stress
- Part III The biology of norepinephrine in CNS pathology
- Part IV Psychopharmacology of norepinephrine
- Index
9 - Norepinephrine and stress
from Part II - Norepinephrine and behavior
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: revision of an old transmitter
- Part I The neurobiology of norepinephrine
- Part II Norepinephrine and behavior
- 6 Role of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system in arousal and circadian regulation of the sleep–wake cycle
- 7 The locus coeruleus and regulation of behavioral flexibility and attention: clinical implications
- 8 Norepinephrine and long-term memory function
- 9 Norepinephrine and stress
- Part III The biology of norepinephrine in CNS pathology
- Part IV Psychopharmacology of norepinephrine
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Stress is a major factor in the development of many psychopathological conditions, and the dysregulation of noradrenergic neurotransmission has been implicated in a variety of stress-related neuropsychiatric diseases, such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other anxiety disorders. Further, the brain noradrenergic system is a key regulatory target for psychotherapeutic drugs used to treat such disorders. Thus, understanding the role of brain norepinephrine (NE) in short-term coping and the response to acute stress, as well as long-term adaptation and restoration in the face of chronic or repeated stress, may be important for understanding the neurobiological processes involved in the development of or vulnerability to such pathological states and the processes involved in their effective treatment.
The brain noradrenergic neurotransmitter system, originating in the locus coeruleus (LC) and other cell groups in the medulla and pons, innervates essentially the entire neuraxis, the notable exception being the neostriatum (see Chapter 1). Such a widespread and divergent innervation pattern arises from a relatively small number of cells concentrated in a few regions of the hindbrain. This system is positioned ideally to enact a global “state-change” function and influence the operating characteristics of the entire nervous system under conditions of elevated noradrenergic activity. That the system indeed operated in this manner was supported by electrophysiologic experiments in the 1980s and early 1990s, which showed the effect of NE on target neurons to be primarily modulatory in nature.
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- Brain NorepinephrineNeurobiology and Therapeutics, pp. 275 - 296Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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