Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40101307›Full record

ArticleNeurobiology of aging2025

Age-related differences in locus coeruleus intensity across a demographically diverse sample.

Elizabeth Riley, Nicholas Cicero, Senegal Alfred Mabry, Khena M Swallow, Adam K Anderson, Eve De Rosa

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurobiology of aging, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. The Noradrenergic Brain in Parkinson's Disease.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. 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
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Elizabeth RileyDepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Electronic address: er482@cornell.edu.
Nicholas CiceroDepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Senegal Alfred MabryDepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Khena M SwallowDepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Adam K AndersonDepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Eve De RosaDepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

Funding

Basal Forebrain connections to the heart and mind in healthy agingR01AG066430 · NIA · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · PI ANDERSON, ADAM K, DEROSA, EVE · 2020 to 2024
$2.7M
Canary in a coal mine: locus coeruleus, norepinephrine signaling and dementiaF32AG058479 · NIA · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · PI RILEY, ELIZABETH B · 2018 to 2021
$286k
NIA NIH HHS F32 AG058479NIA NIH HHS R01 AG066430
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding the trajectory of in vivo locus coeruleus (LC) signal intensity across the adult lifespan and among various demographic groups, particularly during middle age, may be crucial for early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, which begin in the LC decades before symptom onset. Even though pathological changes in the LC are thought to begin in middle age, its characteristics across the adult lifespan, and its consistency and variation across demographic groups, remain not well understood. Using T1-weighted turbo spin echo magnetic resonance (MRI) scans to characterize the LC, we measured LC signal intensity in 134 participants aged 19-86 years, with an effort to recruit a more racially diverse sample (41 % non-White). LC signal intensity was lowest in early adulthood, peaked around age 60, and then decreased again in the oldest adults, particularly in the caudal portion of the LC, which exhibited the greatest overall signal intensity; education, income, and history of early trauma did not alter this general pattern. Rostral LC signal intensity was further heightened in women and Black participants. In higher-performing older adults, increased rostral LC signal intensity was positively associated with higher fluid cognition. The potential accumulation of LC signal intensity across the adult lifespan and its possible dissipation in later life as well as its modification by demographic factors, may be associated with differential susceptibility to neurocognitive aging.

Indexed as

AgingLocus CoeruleusAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCognitionFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedYoung AdultAgingCognitionLocus coeruleusNeuromelanin

Identifiers

PMID40101307
PMCPMC11981832

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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.