Both phasic sensory stimulation and tonic pharmacological activation increase Fos‐like immunoreactivity in the rat locus coeruleus

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Abstract
Neuronal activation increases levels of Fos protein, the product of the early immediate gene c‐fos. Since most studies used stimuli that evoke sustained elevations in activity; the present study examined Fos‐like immunoreactivity (Fos‐LI) in the nucleus locus coeruleus (LC). Halothane‐anesthetized rats were given either footshock to elicit phasic activation of LC neurons or yohimbine (10 mg/kg, i. p.) to induce a tonic increase in firing. Both treatments markedly increased Fos‐LI in a subpopulation of LC neurons. These results demonstrate that c‐fos induction does not require high tonic levels of neuronal activity and that Fos‐LI may underestimate the proportion of LC neurons neurophysiologically activated by a given stimulus and suggest that factors beyond neuronal activity per se contributes to c‐fos expression.

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