What this means
Researchers plan to test whether weak links between the locus coeruleus and a brain network cause older adults to get distracted. They also plan to see if a cognitive training program can strengthen those links.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the registry listing.
- Status
- Recruiting
- Who can join
- Ages 18–75
- Where
- 1 site, including Virginia
The science
- Registered title
- The Role of the Locus Coeruleus in Age-related Distractibility
- Trial ID
- NCT05574634 ↗
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Study type
- interventional
- Conditions
- Aging, Alzheimer Disease
- What is tested
- Tablet based adaptive multimodal attention practice program, Tablet based adaptive criterion task practice program
- Sponsor
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Ages
- 18 Years to 75 Years
- Dates
- First posted Oct 10, 2022 · updated Sep 14, 2026
Registry summary
A growing body of research has highlighted the importance of frontal regions, at both the functional and structural levels, in age-related declines in attentional and cognitive processing. However, the underlying neurobiological pathophysiological changes in the brain that contribute to these declines are still largely unclear. The objective of this proposal is to investigate neural mechanisms of age-related attentional distractibility, focusing on the neural circuit initiated from the locus coeruleus (LC). In the current proposal, the investigators will test the hypothesis that the neural disconnectivity of LC with the salience network (SN) drives failures of ignoring distractors in older adults. The investigators will examine how LC-SN connectivity is associated with selective attention performance, and how improved LC-SN connectivity through a cognitive training program may lead to improved attentional performance.
Sites (1)
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States