ArticleNature protocols2020
A complete pupillometry toolbox for real-time monitoring of locus coeruleus activity in rodents.
Article in Nature protocols, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Look into my eyes: What can eye-based measures tell us about the relationship between physical activity and cognitive performance?Journal of sport and health science · 2023Pooled it
- Nurses' Visual Attention During Initial Observation of Patients With Suspected Pneumonia: An Observational Pupillometry Study.Japan journal of nursing science : JJNS · 2026Observational
- A new hope: locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system at the nexus of neuropsychiatric symptoms.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- PumpKin: A machine-learning pipeline for automatically tracking localized kinematics in freely moving C. elegans.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- The Pupil-Brain System at Rest: Spontaneous Pupil Fluctuations as Markers of Neuromodulatory and Network Dynamics.Psychophysiology · 2026Review
- Webcam-Based Pain Measurement Using Pupillary Diameter.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- GrimACE: automated, multimodal cage-side assessment of pain and well-being in mice.Lab animal · 2026Article
- Roles of target detection and behavioral response on pupil dilation and concurrent memory: An attentional boost study.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2026Article
- Noradrenergic tuning of arousal is coupled to movement transitions.Cell reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Stimulus-Dependent Dopamine Dynamics from Locus Coeruleus Axons.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenergic System in the Healthy and Diseased Brain: A Narrative Review.European journal of neurology · 2025Review
- Article
- Locus coeruleus-related insula activation supports implicit learning.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Probing locus coeruleus functional network in healthy aging and its association with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers using pupillometry.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Article
- Noradrenergic therapies in neurodegenerative disease: from symptomatic to disease modifying therapy?Brain communications · 2025Review
- Pupil Dynamics Predict Exercise Brain Stimulation: An Overview of Exercise Pupillometry.Advances in neurobiology · 2025Review
- Disentangling the Neural Circuits of Arousal and Anxiety-Like Behavior.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Analysis of behavioral flow resolves latent phenotypes.Nature methods · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The locus coeruleus (LC) is a region in the brainstem that produces noradrenaline and is involved in both normal and pathological brain function. Pupillometry, the measurement of pupil diameter, provides a powerful readout of LC activity in rodents, primates and humans. The protocol detailed here describes a miniaturized setup that can screen LC activity in rodents in real-time and can be established within 1-2 d. Using low-cost Raspberry Pi computers and cameras, the complete custom-built system costs only ~300 euros, is compatible with stereotaxic surgery frames and seamlessly integrates into complex experimental setups. Tools for pupil tracking and a user-friendly Pupillometry App allow quantification, analysis and visualization of pupil size. Pupillometry can discriminate between different, physiologically relevant firing patterns of the LC and can accurately report LC activation as measured by noradrenaline turnover. Pupillometry provides a rapid, non-invasive readout that can be used to verify accurate placement of electrodes/fibers in vivo, thus allowing decisions about the inclusion/exclusion of individual animals before experiments begin.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.