It’s known as the locus coeruleus (Latin for “blue spot”), though those who study it just call it the LC. In humans, the LC evolved early, as it had to. The main job of the LC is to send a chemical—called noradrenaline—to other parts of the brain that ignite warnings of life-threatening menace. Noradrenaline helps sound the alarm, pushes the panic button, in a sense. Without it, we would have died off long ago. Opiates change a lot in our brains. One thing they do is stifle the LC. They shut it down. Under their influence, the LC can no longer send the chemical igniting panic. Smothered so
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