Neal, Joshua2024-05-212024-05-212024-01https://hdl.handle.net/10919/119045The locus coeruleus (LC) is a nucleus within the brainstem associated with physiological arousal and attention performance, with altered structure and function previously identified in neurodegenerative disorders. Pathologies related to difficulties with attention have previously been understood within a cortical triple network model, abnormalities in which may be relate to dysfunction in either LC structure or function. To examine the possibility of LC alteration being associated with inattentive symptom report, a set of analyses have been performed. In the first analysis, LC neuromelanin contrast was regressed onto ADHD symptom report for 141 individuals across the lifespan, finding a significant negative relationship between neuromelanin in the right hemisphere of the LC and inattentive symptom report. A second analysis tested for possible mediation of the neuromelanin contrasts with structural volumes of regions associated with the salience network, which has also been previously associated with attention deficits and ADHD symptoms. These findings support the relationship between LC and attention-related behavior through both neuromelanin-sensitive and structural imaging, and observes multiple significant structural associations for cortical regions previously associated to inattention functionally.ETDapplication/pdfenNeuromelaninInattentionMRIThesis