Abstract
The locus coeruleus is a small brainstem nucleus which contains neuromelanin cells and is involved in a number of cognitive functions such as attention, arousal and stress, as well as several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Locus coeruleus imaging in vivo is generally performed using a T1-weighted turbo spin echo MRI sequence at 3 Tesla (T). However, imaging at high magnetic field strength can increase the signal-to-noise ratio and offers the possibility of imaging at higher spatial resolution. Therefore, in the present study we explored the possibility of visualizing the locus coeruleus at 7T. To this end, twelve healthy volunteers participated in three scanning sessions: two with 3T MRI and one with 7T MRI. The volumes of the first 3T session were used to segment the locus coeruleus, whereas the volumes of the second 3T and the 7T session were used to quantify the contrast of the locus coeruleus with several reference regions across eight different structural sequences. The results indicate that several of the 7T sequences provide detectable contrast between the locus coeruleus and surrounding tissue. Of the tested sequences, a T1-weighted sequence with spectral presaturation inversion recovery (SPIR) seems the most promising method for visualizing the locus coeruleus at ultra-high field MRI. While there is insufficient evidence to prefer the 7T SPIR sequence over the 3T TSE sequence, the isotropic voxels at 7T are an important advantage when visualizing small structures such as the locus coeruleus.
Highlights
The locus coeruleus (LC) is a brainstem nucleus that is involved in important cognitive functions such as attention, arousal and stress [1]
We studied the contrast of the LC for a number of 7T MRI sequences that have proven to provide detailed anatomical information in the brainstem at 7T [27] or which have been suggested for imaging neuromelanin or catecholamine-related structures such as the LC and the nigrosome substructures of the substantia nigra [28,29,30,31]
By quantitatively comparing the contrast of the LC with the surrounding tissue for a number of sequences, we have identified a promising spectral presaturation inversion recovery (SPIR)-based sequence. This sequence provides similar contrast of the LC as the 3T sequence commonly used, but at a higher spatial resolution and with isotropic voxels
Summary
The locus coeruleus (LC) is a brainstem nucleus that is involved in important cognitive functions such as attention, arousal and stress [1]. The important role that the LC plays in cognition and its use as a biomarker for assessment of neurodegenerative disorders [4,5,6,7] necessitate accurate visualization of the LC. A T1-weighted FLASH sequence has been used to image the LC at 3T [8]. To date the most frequently used scan at 3T scanners is a T1-weighted TSE scan sequence Such a TSE sequence is thought to be sensitive to neuromelanin, a pigment
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