Scientists Map the Brain's "Blue Place" and Find a Record-Breaking Neuron

Allen Institute researchers mapped the mouse locus coeruleus: dorsal neurons link to learning, ventral ones govern engagement with the environment. Reconstructions revealed a 70.32 cm neuron, the longest ever measured in a mouse.

• Dorsal LC neurons project to the cortex and drive learning; ventral ones reach the brainstem and spinal cord
• The longest neuron measured 70.32 cm, with axons averaging about 35 cm
• The study imaged nearly 35,000 neurons and profiled about 400,000 cells
• LC neurons are among the first to degenerate in Alzheimer's disease