Lower novelty‐related locus coeruleus function is associated with entorhinal tau‐mediated memory decline in older individuals.

The locus coeruleus (LC) is considered one of the earliest regions accumulating hyperphosphorylated tau before this pathology emerges in the entorhinal cortex (EC). Recent animal work suggested that LC phasic activity, which can be induced with exposure to novelty, can protect the cognitive downstream effects of tauopathy. Here we investigate whether activity of the LC during novelty is associated with memory decline and whether this association is mediated by EC‐tau deposition.