Laterodorsal tegmental nucleus

The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (or lateroposterior tegmental nucleus) is a nucleus situated in the brainstem, spanning the midbrain tegmentum and the pontine tegmentum.^[1] Its location is one-third of the way from the pedunculopontine nucleus to the thalamus, inferior to the pineal gland.

Laterodorsal tegmental nucleus
Details
Identifiers
Latin	nucleus tegmentalis posterolateralis
NeuroNames	1256
NeuroLex ID	nlx_144472
TA98	A14.1.06.318
TA2	5894
FMA	77654
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

Function

The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT) sends cholinergic (acetylcholine) projections to many subcortical and cortical structures, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra (dopamine neurons), ventral tegmental area (dopamine neurons), cortex (with bidirectional connections with the prefrontal cortex).

The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus may be involved in modulating sustained attention or in mediating alerting responses, and also in the generation of REM sleep (along with the pedunculopontine nucleus).