Noradrenergic Neurons of the Rat Locus Coeruleus: Anatomical, Physiological and Pharmacological Studies
Abstract
[from Part II: THE EXPERIMENTS introduction]
As presented in the Introduction, the experiments performed were of two types; Experiment 1, a neuroanatomical study of afferent projections to the rat LC utilizing the method of retrograde transport of the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP); and Experiment 2, divided into three parts, Experiment 2a and 2b, the pharmacological characterization of the "autoreceptor" present on or near the cell bodies of LC neurons, and experiment 2c, a study of the activation of LC neurons by peripheral stimulation and the role of the autoreceptor in "gating" the response. This section will be organized as follows. Since many aspects of the methods employed were common to all experiments, the methods will be presented first, followed by Experiments 1 and 2, each preceded by a discussion of the background and rationale on which each was based. Following presentation of the results of each experiment, these results will be discussed individually. Finally, the results of Experiments 1 and 2 will be considered together in Part III, the Summary and Conclusion.