ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2020
Differential attentional control mechanisms by two distinct noradrenergic coeruleo-frontal cortical pathways.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers.
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Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 113 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuroinflammation and noradrenergic modulation with β2-adrenoceptors: Emerging therapeutic targets for Parkinson's diseases.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Nurses' Visual Attention During Initial Observation of Patients With Suspected Pneumonia: An Observational Pupillometry Study.Japan journal of nursing science : JJNS · 2026Observational
- Top-down control of sustained attention by medial prefrontal cortex-locus coeruleus (mPFC-LC) projection neurons during the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT).Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Galanin receptor 1 expressing neurons in hippocampal-prefrontal circuitry modulate goal directed attention and impulse control.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation during memory retrieval enhances recollection of emotionally salient memories.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A specific basal forebrain-medial prefrontal cholinergic pathway improves attentional control in male mice.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Visual attention is linked to temporally structured noradrenaline release in the medial prefrontal cortex.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Unraveling children's mental rotation: insights from behavior and eye tracking.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Rapid dynamics of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons regulate the strength of visual attention.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Top-down control of sustained attention by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) - locus coeruleus (LC) circuit during the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT).bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Improvement on Attention Networks Among Military Personnel: The Right IFG and tDCS Matter.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Patterns of neural activity in prelimbic cortex neurons correlate with attentional behavior in the rodent continuous performance test.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Neuropeptides as transmitters and regulators of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system.Pharmacological reviews · 2025Review
- Galanin receptor 1 expressing neurons in hippocampal-prefrontal circuitry modulate goal directed attention and impulse control.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Bidirectional emotional regulation through prefrontal innervation of the locus coeruleus.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
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- Differential brainstem connectivity according to sex and menopausal status in healthy male and female individuals.Biology of sex differences · 2025Article
- Locus coeruleus tau validates and informs high-resolution MRI in aging and at earliest Alzheimer's pathology stages.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The attentional control of behavior is a higher-order cognitive function that operates through attention and response inhibition. The locus coeruleus (LC), the main source of norepinephrine in the brain, is considered to be involved in attentional control by modulating the neuronal activity of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, evidence for the causal role of LC activity in attentional control remains elusive. Here, by using behavioral and optogenetic techniques, we investigate the effect of LC neuron activation or inhibition in operant tests measuring attention and response inhibition (i.e., a measure of impulsive behavior). We show that LC neuron stimulation increases goal-directed attention and decreases impulsivity, while its suppression exacerbates distractibility and increases impulsive responding. Remarkably, we found that attention and response inhibition are under the control of two divergent projections emanating from the LC: one to the dorso-medial PFC and the other to the ventro-lateral orbitofrontal cortex, respectively. These findings are especially relevant for those pathological conditions characterized by attention deficits and elevated impulsivity.
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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.