High tonic (3-5 Hz) locus coeruleus (LC) activity drives anxiety-like behaviors and the stress response via its dense afferents and receptor distribution profile. Previous studies have utilized DREADD stimulation to understand the global effects of elevating LC activity, but lacked temporal and patterned control of stimulation. Here, we combined optogenetic stimulation of the LC (5 Hz) with functional magnetic resonance imaging to better understand global changes in functional connectivity as a result of high tonic LC activity. We found that LC stimulation at 5 Hz resulted in a shift toward increased connectivity in ChR2 injected animals compared to mCherry controls.
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