Abstract #3371

In vivo mapping of human locus coeruleus functional connectivity at 7T: a feasibility study

Michela Pievani¹, Ileana O. Jelescu², Joao Jorge³, Olivier Reynaud⁴, Federica Ribaldi^1,5,6, Valentina Garibotto⁷, Giovanni B. Frisoni^1,5, and Jorge Jovicich⁸

¹Laboratory of Alzheimer’s Neuroimaging and Epidemiology, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy, ²CIBM - Center for Biomedical Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ³Systems Division, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), Nêuchatel, Switzerland, ⁴Human Neuroscience Platform, Fondation Campus Biotech Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ⁵Memory Clinic and LANVIE - Laboratory of Neuroimaging of Aging, University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ⁶Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, ⁷Division of Nuclear Medicine and NIMTlab, University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ⁸Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

The locus coeruleus (LC) is a brainstem nucleus whose functional disruption may be an early signature of Alzheimer’s disease. Potentially due to its small size, mixed results exist about its functional connectivity to core memory, attention and salience networks. This limits a baseline definition for patient studies. Here we use high-resolution high-field resting-state fMRI to investigate the pattern of LC connectivity in healthy young subjects. Preliminary findings show positive correlations with the cerebellum and the frontal cortex. The default mode and frontoparietal networks, but not the salience network, show FC with the brainstem. Data acquisition is ongoing.

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