The Activation of Locus Coeruleus Under Stress and Its Norepinephrine Projection to Vestibular Nuclei

Vestibular nuclei (VN) is a sensorimotor structure controlling posture and balance. The anatomy and function of VN is closely related to diseases, such as motion sickness, vestibular migraine, vertigo, postural deficits, and Parkinson’s disease. It has been known that stress imposes effects on the function of VN and the progress of these diseases. Since the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system is activated by stress, it would be interesting to know whether there is a connection between LC and VN and its possible function. The experiment results showed that LC neurons project to the VN and they are tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive. After subjected to sleep deprivation stress treatment, the mice showed higher cFos activation in the LC-NE neurons compared with the untreated control group, suggesting the important role LC-NE may play in stress-related VN malfunction. This study provides anatomical basis for further neural circuity studies of LC-VN in balance and then its possible involvement in diseases.