Associations between locus coeruleus MRI contrast and physiological responses to acute stress in younger and older adults.

ABSTRACT: Acute stress activates the brain's locus coeruleus (LC)-noradrenaline system. Recent studies indicate that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based measure of LC structure is associated with better cognitive outcomes in later life. Yet despite the LC's documented role in promoting physiological arousal during acute stress, no studies have examined whether MRI-assessed LC structure is related to arousal responses to acute stress. In this study, 102 younger and 51 older adults completed an acute stress induction task while we assessed multiple measures of physiological arousal (heart rate, breathing rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, sympathetic tone, and heart rate variability, HRV). We used turbo spin echo MRI scans to quantify LC MRI contrast as a measure of LC structure. We app

SUBMITTER: Bachman SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9805382 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature