美国华盛顿州西雅图艾伦神经动力学研究所Jeremiah Y. Cohen研究团队的最新研究提出了蓝斑去甲肾上腺素神经元的地形结构和功能。2026年9月16日，国际知名学术期刊《自然》发表了这一成果。

去甲肾上腺素（又称去甲肾上腺素）由蓝斑中的神经元释放到中枢神经系统的大部分区域。在此，研究人员在小鼠中鉴定出蓝斑去甲肾上腺素能神经元的形态、基因表达与活动之间的关系。单个神经元的轴突投射广泛，但很大程度上局限于脑区的特定亚群。轴突投射和梯度基因表达与蓝斑中胞体的位置相关。在一项需要从行动中持续学习的行为任务中，投射到等皮层的背侧蓝斑神经元在小鼠转换选择时以及由驱动学习的奖赏预测误差信号激活。当小鼠忽略提示潜在奖赏可用性的刺激时，腹侧蓝斑神经元的背景活动更高。这些观察揭示了神经递质系统的地形组织结构和功能，并表明它包含用于灵活行为的学习信号。

附：英文原文

Title: Topographic structure and function of locus coeruleus noradrenaline neurons

Author: Su, Zhixiao, Kosillo, Polina, Jung, Kanghoon, Chen, Shuonan, Summers, Mathew T., Piet, Alex, Hou, Han, Hagihara, Kenta M., Friedmann, Drew, Ho-Shing, Olivia, Becker, Matthew I., Chartrand, Thomas, Yin, Xinxin, Grotz, Peter, Hilton-VanOsdall, Ella, Lee, Margaret, Javeri, Rajvi, Tuggle, Samantha L., Ouellette, Naveen, Myers, Holly, Baka, Judith, Laiton, Camilo, Wulf, Kaelin, Rohde, John, Buccino, Alessio P., Arshadi, Cameron, Wang, Di, Seshamani, Sharmishtaa, Vasquez, Sonya, Eng, Carolyn M., Ollerenshaw, Douglas R., Dee, Nick, Casper, Tamara, Ho, Windy, Jungert, Matthew, Jordan, Atlas, Phillips, Elliot, Chakka, Anish Bhaswanth, Nasirova, Kamiliam, Blake, Krista, McCutcheon, Audrey, Koch, Megan, Vergara, Maria Camila, Smith, Kimberly A., Jarsky, Tim, Lusk, Nicholas, Rue, Mara C. P., Chen, Xiaoyin, Siegle, Joshua H., Glaser, Adam K., Lee, Brian R., Svoboda, Karel, Isogai, Yoh, Chandrashekar, Jayaram V., Cohen, Jeremiah Y.

Issue&Volume: 2026-09-16

Abstract: Noradrenaline (also known as norepinephrine) is released throughout most of the central nervous system by neurons in the locus coeruleus1,2,3,4. Here we identified a relationship between the morphologies, gene expression and activity of noradrenergic neurons in locus coeruleus in mice. Axonal projections of individual neurons were extensive but largely confined to subsets of brain regions. Axonal projections and graded gene expression correlated with locations of cell bodies in locus coeruleus. In a behavioural task requiring continuous learning from actions, dorsal locus coeruleus neurons projecting to isocortex were activated when mice switched choices and by reward-prediction-error signals that drive learning. Background activity of neurons in ventral locus coeruleus was higher when mice ignored stimuli indicating potential reward availability. These observations reveal a topographically organized structure and function of a neurotransmitter system and show that it contains learning signals for flexible behaviour.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11026-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11026-0