Abstract #1211

Iron-Induced MR Contrast in Human Locus Coeruleus: A Cautionary Tale of Misleading Post Mortem MRI Results

Evgeniya Kirilina^1,2, Charlotte Lange^1,3, Carsten Jäger¹, Tilo Reinert^1,3, Kerrin Pine¹, Thomas Lohmiller⁴, Siawoosh Mohammadi^1,5, Tobias Streubel^1,5, Malte David Brammerloh^1,3, Anneke Alkemade⁶, Birte Forstmann⁶, Andreas Herrler⁷, Alexander Schnegg⁸, Markus Morawski⁹, and Nikolaus Weiskopf^1,3

¹Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, ²Neurocomputation and Neuroimaging Unit, Department of Education and Psychology, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ³Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany, ⁴Berlin Joint EPR Lab, Institute for Nanospectroscopy, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fuer Materialien und Energie, Berlin, Germany, ⁵Department of Systems Neurosciences, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, ⁶Integrative Model-Based Neuroscience Research Unit, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁷Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, ⁸EPR Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim, Germany, ⁹Paul Flechsig Institute of Brain Research, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

MR contrast mechanisms in human locus coeruleus were studied combining high-resolution post mortem MRI, histology, ion-beam microscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance. We demonstrate that the main source of MR contrast in formalin fixed LC is paramagnetic iron accumulated in noradrinergic neurons. However, we show that MR contrast in LC drastically changes during the first six months of tissue fixation. We assign these changes to iron been scavenged by neuromelanin and the change of its paramagnetic state. The results have major consequences for MRI of the locus coeruleus, demonstrating a fundamental change rather than the commonly known gradual changes in contrast due to formalin fixation.

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