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locus ceruleus

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
Locus ceruleus
Brain region that processes sensory signals from all areas of the body.

locus ceruleus
Etymology: L, locus, place, caeruleus, sky-blue
a deeply pigmented group of several thousand neurons in the floor of the fourth ventricle. It is part of a major norepinephrine pathway of the central nervous system.

locus
pl. loci [L.] place; site; in genetics, the specific site of a gene on a chromosome.

locus ceruleus
a pigmented eminence in the superior angle of the floor of the fourth ventricle of the brain.


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It especially affects two brain regions: the cerebral cortex--involved in mood, cognition, and perception--and the locus ceruleus, which receives sensory signals.
In stress, the locus ceruleus fires more rapidly and delivers the arousal-producing neurotransmitter norepinephrine to many diverse regions in the brain.
Although the pigmented locus ceruleus region of the brain also contains neuromelanin, it is largely immune to the cell-destroying effects of low doses of MPTP.
 
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