Nerve cluster that lies near the brain's fourth ventricle, where Norepinephrine is concentrated.
The major group of norepinephrine-utilizing neurons in the brain, it plays a role in mediating specific functions relating to memory, emotion, arousal, and attention.
The locus ceruleus is a small pigmented region in the floor of the fourth ventricle of the brain; the region is made up of about 20,000 melanin-pigmented neuronal cell bodies whose norepinephrine-containing axons have a remarkably wide distribution in the cerebellum as well as in the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex of the brain.
An area in the floor of the fourth ventricle, which is of a grayish blue color, because of the pigment of its cells.
Region of the brain that receives and processes sensory signals from all areas of the body.
An area of the brainstem that helps determine which stimuli are worth paying attention to. A malfunction of the locus ceruleus may contribute to anxiety (see Anxiety).
The Locus ceruleus, also spelled locus caeruleus or locus coeruleus (Latin for 'the blue spot'), is a nucleus in the brain stem responsible for physiological responses to stress and panic.