The locus coeruleus (LC), or 'blue spot', is a small nucleus located deep in the brainstem
that provides the far-reaching noradrenergic neurotransmitter system of the brain. This …

Cognitively driven pupil modulations reflect certain underlying brain functions. What do
these reflections tell us? Here, we review findings that have identified key roles for three …

Emotional arousal enhances perception and memory of high-priority information but impairs
processing of other information. Here, we propose that, under arousal, local glutamate levels …

Arousal may be understood on a spectrum, with excessive sleepiness, cognitive dysfunction,
and inattention on one side, a wakeful state in the middle, and hypervigilance, panic, and …

Here, we update our 1990 Annual Review of Neuroscience article,“The Attention System of
the Human Brain.” The framework presented in the original article has helped to integrate …

Unilateral spatial neglect is a common neurological syndrome following predominantly right
hemisphere injuries and is characterized by both spatial and non-spatial deficits. Core …

The concept of attention as central to human performance extends back to the start of
experimental psychology (James 1890), yet even a few years ago, it would not have been …

We review evidence for partially segregated networks of brain areas that carry out different
attentional functions. One system, which includes parts of the intraparietal cortex and …

Survival can depend on the ability to change a current course of action to respond to
potentially advantageous or threatening stimuli. This" reorienting" response involves the …

Through a widespread efferent projection system, the locus coeruleus–noradrenergic
system supplies norepinephrine throughout the central nervous system. Initial studies …