ArticleNature aging2023
The integrity of dopaminergic and noradrenergic brain regions is associated with different aspects of late-life memory performance.
Article in Nature aging, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Population-Level Age Effects on the White Matter Structure Subserving Cognitive Flexibility in the Human Brain.eNeuro · 2026Pooled it
- Daily biofeedback to modulate heart rate oscillations affects structural volume in hippocampal subregions targeted by the locus coeruleus in older adults but not younger adults.Neurobiology of aging · 2023Trial
- BOLD fMRI activations and LC contrast associated with successful episodic memory in healthy older adults and MCI.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Locus coeruleus TDP-43 pathology in a community-based cohort: Clinical and pathological correlates.Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology · 2026Article
- The Noradrenergic Brain in Parkinson's Disease.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2026Review
- White matter hyperintensities are associated with locus coeruleus atrophy and astrocytic βAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation during memory retrieval enhances recollection of emotionally salient memories.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- ß-adrenergic-like signalling engages CrebB in Drosophila gut to promote female longevity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Locus coeruleus degeneration is associated with cortical tau deposition and cognitive decline in older adults at familial risk of Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Electroencephalography, pupillometry, and behavioral evidence for locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system related tonic hyperactivity in older adults.Neurobiology of aging · 2026Article
- A next generation neural mass model with neuromodulation.Journal of computational neuroscience · 2026Article
- Dopaminergic mechanisms supporting hippocampal postencoding dynamics in humans.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Modulation of fronto-parietal and autonomic activity underpins preserved working memory in middle-aged adults.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Substantia Nigra MRI markers are lower in Alzheimer's disease and are linked to general cognitive function.Brain communications · 2026Article
- The dynamics of explore-exploit decisions suggest a threshold mechanism for reduced random exploration in older adults.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Eye movement evidence for locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system contributions to age differences in attention.Psychology and aging · 2025Article
- Midbrain extracellular matrix and microglia are associated with cognition in aging mice.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Arousal increases locus coeruleus blood flow, salience-related brain responses, and modulates negative-valence attentional biases.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Electroencephalography, pupillometry, and behavioral evidence for locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system related tonic hyperactivity in older adults.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Strong mnemonic prediction errors increase cognitive control, attention, and arousal.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Changes in dopaminergic neuromodulation play a key role in adult memory decline. Recent research has also implicated noradrenaline in shaping late-life memory. However, it is unclear whether these two neuromodulators have distinct roles in age-related cognitive changes. Here, combining longitudinal MRI of the dopaminergic substantia nigra-ventral tegmental area (SN-VTA) and noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) in younger (n = 69) and older (n = 251) adults, we found that dopaminergic and noradrenergic integrity are differentially associated with memory performance. While LC integrity was related to better episodic memory across several tasks, SN-VTA integrity was linked to working memory. Longitudinally, we found that older age was associated with more negative change in SN-VTA and LC integrity. Notably, changes in LC integrity reliably predicted future episodic memory. These differential associations of dopaminergic and noradrenergic nuclei with late-life cognitive decline have potential clinical utility, given their degeneration in several age-associated diseases.
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Registered trials
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.