In vivo visualization of age-related differences in the locus coeruleus

NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING

卷:74

Article

Liu, Kathy Y.¹  Acosta-Cabronero, Julio²  Cardenas-Blanco, Arturo^3,4  Loane, Clare⁵  Berry, Alex J.⁶  Betts, Matthew J.^3,4  Kievit, Rogier A.⁷  Henson, Richard N.⁷  Duezel, Emrah^3,4,5  Howard, Robert¹  Hammerer, Dorothea^2,4,5 

[1] UCL, Div Psychiat, 6th Floor Maple House,Tottenham Court Rd, London W1T 7NF, England

[2] UCL, Wellcome Ctr Human Neuroimaging, UCL Inst Neurol, London, England

[3] German Ctr Neurodegenerat Dis DZNE, Magdeburg, Germany

[4] Otto von Guericke Univ, Inst Cognit Neurol & Dementia Res, Magdeburg, Germany

[5] UCL, Inst Cognit Neurosci, London, England

[6] Camden & Islington NHS Fdn Trust, London, England

[7] Univ Cambridge, MRC, Cognit & Brain Sci Unit, Cambridge, England

[8] MRC, Cognit & Brain Sci Unit, Cambridge, England

关键词: Locus coeruleus;    Noradrenergic system;    Magnetic resonance imaging;    Aging;    Neuromelanin;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.10.014

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The locus coeruleus (LC), the major origin of noradrenergic modulation of the central nervous system, may play an important role in neuropsychiatric disorders including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The pattern of age-related change of the LC across the life span is unclear. We obtained normalized, mean LC signal intensity values, that is, contrast ratios (CRs), from magnetization transfer -weighted images to investigate the relationship between LC CR and age in cognitively normal healthy adults (N = 605, age range 18-88 years). Study participants were part of the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience-an open-access, population-based data set. We found a quadratic relationship between LC CR and age, the peak occurring around 60 years, with no differences between males and females. Subregional analyses revealed that age-related decline in LC CR was confined to the rostral portion of the LC. Older adults showed greater variance in overall LC CR than younger adults, and the functional and clinical implications of these observed age-related differences require further investigation. Visualization of the LC in this study may inform how future scanning parameters can be optimized, and provides insight into how LC integrity changes across the life span. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc.

【 授权许可】

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