ArticleCells2021
Examining the Role of the Noradrenergic Locus Coeruleus for Predicting Attention and Brain Maintenance in Healthy Old Age and Disease: An MRI Structural Study for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
Article in Cells, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- BrainAGE, brain health, and mental disorders: A systematic review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Cardiorespiratory fitness is differentially associated with motor cortex laterality in middle-aged and older adults.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Vagus nerve stimulation alters task-evoked pupillary responses in older but not younger adults: A single-blind active sham-controlled crossover trial.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Modulation of fronto-parietal and autonomic activity underpins preserved working memory in middle-aged adults.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Modelling cognitive outcomes in the UK Biobank: Education, noradrenaline and frontoparietal networks.PloS one · 2026Article
- Age-related differences in locus coeruleus intensity across a demographically diverse sample.Neurobiology of aging · 2025Article
- Acupuncture for neurodegenerative diseases: mechanisms, efficacy, and future research directions.American journal of translational research · 2025Review
- Greater physical fitness (Acta physiologica (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Slower speed of blood pressure recovery after standing is associated with accelerated brain aging: Evidence from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).Cerebral circulation - cognition and behavior · 2024Article
- Physical activity status prevents symptoms of long covid: Sulcovid-19 survey.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2023Article
- Exploring the Role of Locus Coeruleus in Alzheimer's Disease: a Comprehensive Update on MRI Studies and Implications.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2023Review
- Locus coeruleus neuromelanin accumulation and dissipation across the lifespan.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Greater physical fitness (Vo2Max) in healthy older adults associated with increased integrity of the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenergic system.Research square · 2023Article
- Altered structural covariance of locus coeruleus in individuals with significant memory concern and patients with mild cognitive impairment.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2023Article
- Preclinical and translational models for delirium: Recommendations for future research from the NIDUS delirium network.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023Review
- Long-Term Effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the Brain: Clinical Consequences and Molecular Mechanisms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Locus coeruleus and dorsal cingulate morphology contributions to slowed processing speed.Neuropsychologia · 2023Article
- Article
- A PAM of the αCurrent research in pharmacology and drug discovery · 2023Article
- Effect and mechanism of acupuncture on Alzheimer's disease: A review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The noradrenergic theory of Cognitive Reserve (Robertson, 2013-2014) postulates that the upregulation of the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system (LC-NA) originating in the brainstem might facilitate cortical networks involved in attention, and protracted activation of this system throughout the lifespan may enhance cognitive stimulation contributing to reserve. To test the above-mentioned theory, a study was conducted on a sample of 686 participants (395 controls, 156 mild cognitive impairment, 135 Alzheimer's disease) investigating the relationship between LC volume, attentional performance and a biological index of brain maintenance (BrainPAD-an objective measure, which compares an individual's structural brain health, reflected by their voxel-wise grey matter density, to the state typically expected at that individual's age). Further analyses were carried out on reserve indices including education and occupational attainment. Volumetric variation across groups was also explored along with gender differences. Control analyses on the serotoninergic (5-HT), dopaminergic (DA) and cholinergic (Ach) systems were contrasted with the noradrenergic (NA) hypothesis. The antithetic relationships were also tested across the neuromodulatory subcortical systems. Results supported by Bayesian modelling showed that LC volume disproportionately predicted higher attentional performance as well as biological brain maintenance across the three groups. These findings lend support to the role of the noradrenergic system as a key mediator underpinning the neuropsychology of reserve, and they suggest that early prevention strategies focused on the noradrenergic system (e.g., cognitive-attentive training, physical exercise, pharmacological and dietary interventions) may yield important clinical benefits to mitigate cognitive impairment with age and disease.
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