Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2016 Jan 6;89(1):8-10.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.12.031.

More than Meets the Eye: the Relationship between Pupil Size and Locus Coeruleus Activity

Vincent D Costa  1 , Peter H Rudebeck  2
Affiliations
Comment

More than Meets the Eye: the Relationship between Pupil Size and Locus Coeruleus Activity

Vincent D Costa et al. Neuron. .

Abstract

Using both direct neural recordings and electrical microstimulation, Joshi et al. (2016) show that locus coeruleus (LC) activity closely matches moment-to-moment changes in pupil size. But what causes these two measures to be related is not straightforward.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Higher Spike Rates in LC Precede Pupil Dilation than Constriction
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. An X, Bandler R, Ongur D, Price JL. Prefrontal cortical projections to longitudinal columns in the midbrain periaqueductal gray in macaque monkeys. J Comp Neurol. 1998;401:455–479. - PubMed
    1. Arnsten AF, Goldman-Rakic PS. Selective prefrontal cortical projections to the region of the locus coeruleus and raphe nuclei in the rhesus monkey. Brain Res. 1984;306:9–18. - PubMed
    1. Aston-Jones G, Cohen JD. An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: adaptive gain and optimal performance. Annual review of neuroscience. 2005;28:403–450. - PubMed
    1. Bradley MM, Miccoli L, Escrig MA, Lang PJ. The pupil as a measure of emotional arousal and autonomic activation. Psychophysiology. 2008;45:602–607. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Breen LA, Burde RM, Loewy AD. Brainstem connections to the Edinger-Westphal nucleus of the cat: a retrograde tracer study. Brain Res. 1983;261:303–306. - PubMed