ABSTRACT
Norepinephrine (NE) is one of three catecholamine neurotransmitters in the brain and has been studied extensively in relation to the biology of suicide as well as psychiatric disorders that signi”cantly increase the risk of suicide. NE became a candidate for the pathology of depression in the 1950s, but not because of a discovery of altered concentrations of NE in depressed patients or suicide victims. Instead, NE was one of the neurotransmitters along with dopamine and serotonin that was directly affected by newly discovered antidepressant drugs. Since that time, NE has been one of the most studied neurotransmitters with regard to depression biology and suicide, second only to serotonin. However, interest in the role of NE in suicide and depression has dwindled considerably over the past 10 years. In fact, interest in monoamines appears to be waning overall, possibly driven by a push by the National
3.1 Brief Review of the Brain Noradrenergic System ..........................................30 3.1.1 Anatomy .............................................................................................30 3.1.2 Neurochemistry ..................................................................................30
