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5956695 
Journal Article 
Review 
Noradrenergic Locus Coeruleus pathways in pain modulation 
Llorca-Torralba, M; Borges, G; Neto, F; Mico, JA; Berrocoso, E 
2016 
1 
Neuroscience
ISSN: 0306-4522
EISSN: 1873-7544 
338 
93-113 
English 
27267247 
WOS:000386338200007 
The noradrenergic system is crucial for several activities in the body, including the modulation of pain. As the major producer of noradrenaline (NA) in the central nervous system (CNS), the Locus Coeruleus (LC) is a nucleus that has been studied in several pain conditions, mostly due to its strategic location. Indeed, apart from a well-known descending LC-spinal pathway that is important for pain control, an ascending pathway passing through this nucleus may be responsible for the noradrenergic inputs to higher centers of the pain processing, such as the limbic system and frontal cortices. Thus, the noradrenergic system appears to modulate different components of the pain experience and accordingly, its manipulation has distinct behavioral outcomes. The main goal of this review is to bring together the data available regarding the noradrenergic system in relation to pain, particularly focusing on the ascending and descending LC projections in different conditions. How such findings influence our understanding of these conditions is also discussed.