The relative involvement of kappa opioid receptors in the mediation of behavioral and neurochemical responses to withdrawal from chronic drug treatment with the opioid analgesic butorphanol was studied using in vivo microdialysis to detail extracellular fluid concentrations of glutamate and aspartate within the locus ceruleus. Sprague-Dawley rats were rendered opioid dependent after 3 days of i...

One hundred and eighteen cigarette smokers who wished to give up were randomly assigned to receive either clonidine (n=42), diazepam (n—38) or placebo (n=38) in a double-blind trial. All subjects also received at least three sessions of behavioural treatment. End of treatment abstinence rates for clonidine, diazepam and placebo groups were 69%, 40% and 40% respectively (p<0.01). At later follow...

To date only global dosages of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) protein have been realized in the locus coeruleus (LC) without discriminating the enzyme contained in the cell body area from the one in the surrounding neuropil. The preceding immunohistochemical study (Bezin et al., 1994) revealed a dramatic plasticity of the cellular expression of TH in the LC during the postnatal development of the ra...

We previously demonstrated that mice with reduced expression of the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2 LO) undergo age-related degeneration of the catecholamine-producing neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta and locus ceruleus and exhibit motor disturbances and depressive-like behavior. In this work, we investigated the effects of reduced vesicular transport on the function and v...

Emotional memories are better remembered than neutral ones. The amygdala is involved in this enhancement not only by modulating the hippocampal activity, but possibly also by modulating central arousal. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we analyzed the retrieval of neutral faces encoded in emotional or neutral contexts. The pupillary size measured during encoding was used as a modula...

Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), the catabolic enzyme of norepinephrine and serotonin, plays a critical role in emotional and social behavior. However, the control and impact of endogenous MAO-A levels in the brain remains unknown. Here we show that the RING finger-type E3 ubiquitin ligase Rines/RNF180 regulates brain MAO-A subset, monoamine levels, and emotional behavior. Rines interacted with MAO...

Analysis and characterization of neuronal discharge patterns are of interest to neurophysiologists and neuropharmacologists. In this paper we present a hidden Markov model approach to modeling single neuron electrical activity. Basically the model assumes that each interspike interval corresponds to one of several possible states of the neuron. Fitting the model to experimental series of inters...

The effects of inhibition of locus coeruleus neuronal discharge activity on cortical and hippocampal electroencephalographic activity were examined in halothane-anesthetized rats. A combined recording/infusion probe was used to place 35-150-nl infusions of the alpha 2-noradrenergic agonist, clonidine (1 ng/nl) which inhibits locus coeruleus neuronal discharge activity, immediately adjacent to t...

A strong attachment to the caregiver is critical for survival in altricial species, including humans. While some behavioral aspects of attachment have been characterized, its neurobiology has only recently received attention. Using a mammalian imprinting model, we are assessing the neural circuitry that enables infant rats to attach quickly to a caregiver, thus enhancing survival in the nest. S...