Editing Catecholamine (section)

===Location===

Catecholamines are produced mainly by the [[chromaffin cells]] of the [[adrenal medulla]] and the [[postganglionic fiber]]s of the [[sympathetic nervous system]]. [[Dopamine]], which acts as a [[neurotransmitter]] in the [[central nervous system]], is largely produced in neuronal cell bodies in two areas of the brainstem: the [[ventral tegmental area]] and the [[substantia nigra]], the latter of which contains [[neuromelanin]]-pigmented neurons. The similarly neuromelanin-pigmented cell bodies of the [[locus coeruleus]] produce [[norepinephrine]]. [[Epinephrine]] is produced in small groups of neurons in the human brain which express its synthesizing enzyme, [[phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase|phenylethanolamine ''N''-methyltransferase]];<ref name="Human PNMT neurons">{{cite journal | last1= Kitahama |first1=K. |last2=Pearson |first2=J. |last3=Denoroy |first3=L. |last4=Kopp |first4=N. |last5=Ulrich |first5=J. |last6=Maeda |first6=T. |last7=Jouvet |first7=M. | title = Adrenergic neurons in human brain demonstrated by immunohistochemistry with antibodies to phenylethanolamine-''N''-methyltransferase (PNMT): discovery of a new group in the nucleus tractus solitarius | journal = Neuroscience Letters | volume = 53 | issue = 3 | pages = 303–308 | year = 1985 | pmid = 3885079 | doi = 10.1016/0304-3940(85)90555-5|s2cid=2578817 }}</ref> these neurons project from a nucleus that is adjacent (ventrolateral) to the [[area postrema]] and from a nucleus in the dorsal region of the [[solitary tract]].<ref name="Human PNMT neurons" />