Abstract
AbstractBackgroundThe locus coeruleus–noradrenaline system plays an extensive role in cognition and behaviour. It is among the earliest and most prominent sites of pathology in neurodegenerative diseases of ageing, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Improving our ability to detect changes in this system in vivo has implications for early diagnosis and for tracking treatment interventions.MethodMy talk will focus on pupil and oculomotor measures as a biomarker to detect changes in the locus coeruleus–noradrenaline system. I will discuss results from a study in Parkinson’s disease patients (N=19) who underwent a pharmacological challenge using the noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine (40mg). In this study, we characterised the locus coeruleus using ultra‐high‐field 7T MRI and tested patients on and off atomoxetine, using a suite of oculomotor eye tracking tasks and a learning task combined with pupillometry.ResultWe show that atomoxetine improves cognitive performance and saccadic reaction times. Crucially, atomoxetine led to larger pupil responses that varied as a function of locus coeruleus integrity.ConclusionTogether, these results show that pupil and eye tracking measures are an effective biomarker for the locus coeruleus–noradrenaline system, and they are sensitive to pharmacological interventions. I will discuss the implications of these results for early detection and monitoring of subcortical changes in Alzheimer’s disease.
Published Version
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