Normal and Abnormal Physiology of Monoamines in the Central Nervous System

Abstract

Noradrenaline and adrenaline were first detected in mammalian brain by von Euler (1946), and their presence was later confirmed by Holtz (1950). The NA that was found together with A was referred to as “sympathin” and was thought to occur in cerebral vasomotor nerves. In 1954, Vogt approached the problem of whether these amines have a functional role in the central nervous brain tissue, and in what is now a classic study in the field, she described the concentration and location of brain NA in several mammals. She found that in the dog the concentration of brain NA is usually uneven and does not parallel brain vascularity. Most of Vogt’s results have been confirmed (see Table 4), with slight variation in concentration determinations due to technique.