Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23486878›Full record

ArticleNeurology2013

Neural reserve, neuronal density in the locus ceruleus, and cognitive decline.

Robert S Wilson, Sukriti Nag, Patricia A Boyle, Loren P Hizel, Lei Yu, Aron S Buchman, Julie A Schneider, David A Bennett

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 176 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
176citing papers in PubMed
7.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

176 citing papers in PubMed, 289 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Daily heart rate variability biofeedback training decreases locus coeruleus MRI contrast in younger adults in a randomized clinical trial.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2023
    Trial
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  10. Vulnerability of locus coeruleus connections to aging and Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  11. Review
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  15. Article
  16. Wake-promoting neuromodulators in Alzheimer's disease: Implications for sleep and brain clearance.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Review
  17. Sex and life experience shape locus coeruleus pretangle tau pathology.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  18. Sex differences in neuromodulatory subcortical systems and their implications for Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

116 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Robert S WilsonRush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Departments of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. rwilson@rush.edu
Sukriti Nag
Patricia A Boyle
Loren P Hizel
Lei Yu
Aron S Buchman
Julie A Schneider
David A Bennett
Rush University Medical Center · US

Funding

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF NEURAL RESERVE AND NEUROBIOLOGY IN AGINGR01AG017917 · NIA · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI BENNETT, DAVID ALAN · 2001 to 2023
$43.3M
Risk Factors for Incident Alzheimer's Disease in a Biracial CommunityR01AG011101 · NIA · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI EVANS, DENIS A · 1993 to 2010
$24.7M
RISK FACTORS, PATHOLOGY, AND CLINICAL EXPRESSIONS OF ADR01AG015819 · NIA · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI BENNETT, DAVID ALAN · 1998 to 2024
$21.4M
Characterizing the Behavior Profile of Healthy Cognitive AgingR01AG034374 · NIA · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI PATRICIA A BOYLE · 2009 to 2026
$8.8M
Epidemiologic Study of Impaired Decision-Making in Preclinical Alzheimer's DiseasR01AG033678 · NIA · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI BOYLE, PATRICIA A · 2009 to 2025
$7.8M
The Clinical Profile of Parkinson's Disease (PD) PathologyR01NS078009 · NINDS · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI BUCHMAN, ARON S · 2012 to 2016
$2.4M
Neurobiologic Study of Psychological Distress & DementiaR01AG024871 · NIA · RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI WILSON, ROBERT S · 2006 to 2010
$1.8M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG011101NIA NIH HHS R01 AG015819NIA NIH HHS R01 AG017917NIA NIH HHS R01 AG024871NIA NIH HHS R01 AG033678NIA NIH HHS R01 AG034374NIA NIH HHS R01AG15819NIA NIH HHS R01AG17917NIA NIH HHS R01AG33678NIA NIH HHS R01AG34374NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS078009
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo test the hypothesis that higher neuronal density in brainstem aminergic nuclei contributes to neural reserve.

methodsParticipants are 165 individuals from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal clinical-pathologic cohort study. They completed a mean of 5.8 years of annual evaluations that included a battery of 19 cognitive tests from which a previously established composite measure of global cognition was derived. Upon death, they had a brain autopsy and uniform neuropathologic examination that provided estimates of the density of aminergic neurons in the locus ceruleus, dorsal raphe nucleus, substantia nigra, and ventral tegmental area plus summary measures of neuronal neurofibrillary tangles and Lewy bodies from these nuclei and medial temporal lobe and neocortex.

resultsNeuronal densities in each nucleus were approximately normally distributed. In separate analyses, higher neuronal density in each nucleus except the ventral tegmental area was associated with slower rate of cognitive decline, but when modeled together only locus ceruleus neuronal density was related to cognitive decline (estimate = 0.003, SE = 0.001, p < 0.001). Higher densities of tangles and Lewy bodies in these brainstem nuclei were associated with faster cognitive decline even after controlling for pathologic burden elsewhere in the brain. Locus ceruleus neuronal density, brainstem tangles, and brainstem Lewy bodies had independent associations with rate of cognitive decline. In addition, at higher levels of locus ceruleus neuronal density, the association of Lewy bodies with cognitive decline was diminished.

conclusionDensity of noradrenergic neurons in the locus ceruleus may be a structural component of neural reserve.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAgingAutopsyBrain StemCognitionCognition DisordersCohort StudiesHumansLocus CoeruleusLongitudinal StudiesMemoryMiddle AgedNeurofibrillary TanglesNeurons

Identifiers

PMID23486878
PMCPMC3691778
OpenAlexW2132740963

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.