Topographic structure and function of locus coeruleus noradrenaline neurons
Abstract Noradrenaline (also known as norepinephrine) is released throughout most of the central nervous system by neurons in the locus coeruleus 1–4 . Here we identified a relationship between the morphologies, gene expression and activity of noradrenergic neurons in locus coeruleus in mice. Axonal projections of individual neurons were extensive but largely confined to subsets of brain regions. Axonal projections and graded gene expression correlated with locations of cell bodies in locus coeruleus. In a behavioural task requiring continuous learning from actions, dorsal locus coeruleus neurons projecting to isocortex were activated when mice switched choices and by reward-prediction-error signals that drive learning. Background activity of neurons in ventral locus coeruleus was higher when mice ignored stimuli indicating potential reward availability. These observations reveal a topographically organized structure and function of a neurotransmitter system and show that it contains learning signals for flexible behaviour.
Authors
- Jeremiah Y. Cohen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4768-7124)
- Tamara Casper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1638-3651)
- Joshua H. Siegle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7736-4844)
- Alex T. Piet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6529-1414)
- Alessio Paolo Buccino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3661-527X)
- Polina Kosillo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1944-9460)
- Tim Jarsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4399-539X)
- María Camila Vergara
- Kanghoon Jung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5381-5161)
- Mathew T. Summers
- Thomas Chartrand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7093-8681)
- Douglas R. Ollerenshaw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3692-1835)
- Jayaram Chandrashekar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6412-0114)
- Xiaoyin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2807-6125)
- Camilo Laiton-Bonadiez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8488-8753)
- Anish Bhaswanth Chakka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1095-1817)
- Nick Dee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2831-9254)
- Yoh Isogai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7285-1603)
- Judith Baka
- Kimberly A. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3142-1970)
- Han Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4590-7891)
- Carolyn M. Eng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1081-6463)
- Samantha L. Black (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1442-8238)
- John Rohde
- Cameron Arshadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1885-080X)
- Drew Friedmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2138-8177)
- Kenta M. Hagihara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0064-0852)
- Sharmishtaa Seshamani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7289-3184)
- Mara C.P. Rue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4305-7838)
- Karel Svoboda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6670-7362)
- Rajvi Javeri
- Matthew Jungert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6600-9250)
- Megan Koch
- Krista Blake
- Audrey McCutcheon
- Atlas Jordan
- Sonya Vasquez
- Holly Myers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2156-6471)
- Kaelin Wulf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8394-8900)
- Peter Grotz
- Olivia Ho-Shing
- Adam K. Glaser
- Naveen Ouellette
- Brian R. Lee
- Elliot Phillips
- Xinxin Yin
- Windy Ho
- Kamiliam Nasirova
- Ella Hilton-VanOsdall
- Matthew I. Becker
- Nicholas Lusk
- Zhixiao Su
- Di Wang
- Margaret Lee
- Shuonan Chen
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature
- Published
- 2026-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11026-0
- Primary Topic
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00