Dynamic behavior of the locus coeruleus during arousal-related memory processing in a multi-modal 7T fMRI paradigm
- Maastricht University, Netherlands
- University Health Network, Canada
Abstract
A body of animal and human evidence points to the norepinephrine (NE) locus coeruleus (LC) system in modulating memory for arousing experiences, but whether the LC would recast its role along memory stages remains unknown. Sedation precluded examination of LC dynamics during memory processing in animals. Here, we addressed the contribution of the LC during arousal-associated memory processing through a unique combination of dedicated ultra-high-field LC-imaging methods, a well-established emotional memory task, online physiological and saliva alpha-amylase measurements in young adults. Arousal-related LC activation followed amygdala engagement during encoding. During consolidation and recollection, activation transitioned to hippocampal involvement, reflecting learning and model updating. NE-LC activation is dynamic, plays an arousal-controlling role, and is not sufficient but requires interactions with the amygdala to form adaptive memories of emotional experiences. These findings have implications for understanding contributions of LC dysregulation to disruptions in emotional memory formation, observed in psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders.
Data availability
Processed data to reproduce the figures in this manuscript is provided in the Source data files. Participants did not explicitly consent to their data being made public and therefore, access to their demographic, raw or processed imaging and physiological data is restricted. Requests for the anonymized data should be made to Heidi Jacobs (www.heidijacobs.nl; h.jacobs@maastrichtuniversity.nl or hjacobs@mgh.harvard.edu) and will be reviewed by an independent data access committee, taking into account the research proposal and intended use of the data. Requestors are required to sign a data sharing agreement to ensure participants' confidentiality is maintained prior to release of any data and that procedures conform with the EU legislation on the general data protection regulation and local ethical regulations.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (VENI 451-14-035)
- Heidi IL Jacobs
Universiteit Maastricht (Intramural support FHML)
- Heidi IL Jacobs
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Human subjects: All participants provided written informed. Approval of the experimental protocol was obtained from the local ethical committee of the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience at Maastricht University (#07_11_2014_A1).
Copyright
© 2020, Jacobs et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Dynamic behavior of the locus coeruleus during arousal-related memory processing in a multi-modal 7T fMRI paradigm
eLife 9:e52059.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52059
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