Age-Related Differences in Ventral Striatal and Default Mode Network Function During Reciprocated Trust

Social relationships change across the lifespan as social networks narrow and motivational priorities shift to the present. Interestingly, aging is also associated with changes in executive function, including decision-making abilities, but it remains unclear how age-related changes in both domains interact to impact financial decisions involving other people. To study this problem, we recruited 50 human participants (N_younger = 26, ages 18-34; N_older = 24, ages 63-80) to play an economic trust game as the investor with three partners (friend, stranger, and computer) who played the role of investee. Investors underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the trust game while investees were seated outside of the scanner. Building on our previous work with younger adults showing both enhanced striatal responses and altered default-mode network (DMN) connectivity as a function of social closeness during reciprocated trust, we predicted that these relations would exhibit age-related differences. We found that striatal responses to reciprocated trust from friends relative to strangers and computers were blunted in older adults relative to younger adults, thus supporting our primary pre-registered hypothesis regarding social closeness. We also found that older adults exhibited enhanced DMN connectivity with the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) during reciprocated trust from friends compared to computers while younger adults exhibited the opposite pattern. Taken together, these results advance our understanding of age-related differences in sensitivity to social closeness in the context of trusting others.

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Age Differences in the Social Associative Learning of Trust Information

10.31234/osf.io/b38rd ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Kendra Leigh Seaman ◽

Alexander P. Christensen ◽

Katherine Senn ◽

Jessica Cooper ◽

Brittany Shane Cassidy

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Age Differences ◽

Social Cues ◽

Trust Game ◽

Time Model ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Age Related ◽

The Social ◽

Over Time

Trust is a key component of social interaction. Older adults, however, often exhibit excessive trust relative to younger adults. One explanation is that older adults may learn to trust differently than younger adults. Here, we examine how younger (N=33) and older adults (N=30) learn to trust over time. Participants completed a classic iterative trust game with three partners. Younger and older adults shared similar amounts but differed in how they shared money. Compared to younger adults, older adults invested more with untrustworthy partners and less with trustworthy partners. As a group, older adults displayed less learning than younger adults. However, computational modeling shows that this is because older adults are more likely to forget what they have learned over time. Model-based fMRI analyses revealed several age-related differences in neural processing. Younger adults showed prediction error signals in social processing areas while older adults showed over-recruitment of several cortical areas. Collectively, these findings suggest that older adults attend to and learn from social cues differently from younger adults.

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The influence of relationship closeness on default-mode network connectivity during social interactions

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsaa031 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 261-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dominic S Fareri ◽

David V Smith ◽

Mauricio R Delgado

Keyword(s):

Social Interactions ◽

Default Mode Network ◽

Social Preference ◽

Computer Network ◽

Critical Role ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Trust Game ◽

Default Mode ◽

Social Closeness ◽

Psychophysiological Interaction

Abstract Reciprocated trust plays a critical role in forming and maintaining relationships, and has consistently been shown to implicate neural circuits involved in reward-related processing and social cognition. Less is known about neural network connectivity during social interactions involving trust, however, particularly as a function of closeness between an investor and a trustee. We examined network reactivity and connectivity in participants who played an economic trust game with close friends, strangers and a computer. Network reactivity analyses showed enhanced activation of the default-mode network (DMN) to social relative to non-social outcomes. A novel network psychophysiological interaction (nPPI) analysis revealed enhanced connectivity between the DMN and the superior frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule when experiencing reciprocated vs violated trust from friends relative to strangers. Such connectivity tracked with differences in self-reported social closeness with these partners. Interestingly, reactivity of the executive control network (ECN), involved in decision processes, demonstrated no social vs non-social preference, and ECN-ventral striatum connectivity did not track social closeness. Taken together, these novel findings suggest that DMN interacts with components of attention and control networks to signal the relative importance of positive experiences with close others vs strangers.

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Effect of Cognitive Control on Age-Related Positivity Effects in Attentional Processing – Evidence From an Event-Related Brain Potential Study

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.755635 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Haining Liu ◽

Yanli Liu ◽

Xianling Dong ◽

Haihong Liu ◽

Buxin Han

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Opposite Pattern ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Attentional Processing ◽

Age Related ◽

Related Potentials

Studies investigating age-related positivity effects during facial emotion processing have yielded contradictory results. The present study aimed to elucidate the mechanisms of cognitive control during attentional processing of emotional faces among older adults. We used go/no-go detection tasks combined with event-related potentials and source localization to examine the effects of response inhibition on age-related positivity effects. Data were obtained from 23 older and 23 younger healthy participants. Behavioral results showed that the discriminability index (d') of older adults on fear trials was significantly greater than that of younger adults [t(44)=2.37, p=0.024, Cohen’s d=0.70], whereas an opposite pattern was found in happy trials [t(44)=2.56, p=0.014, Cohen’s d=0.75]. The electroencephalography results on the amplitude of the N170 at the left electrode positions showed that the fear-neutral face pairs were larger than the happy-neutral ones for the younger adults [t(22)=2.32, p=0.030, Cohen’s d=0.48]; the older group’s right hemisphere presented similar tendency, although the results were not statistically significant [t(22)=1.97, p=0.061, Cohen’s d=0.41]. Further, the brain activity of the two hemispheres in older adults showed asymmetrical decrement. Our study demonstrated that the age-related “positivity effect” was not observed owing to the depletion of available cognitive resources at the early attentional stage. Moreover, bilateral activation of the two hemispheres may be important signals of normal aging.

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Healthy Aging Alters the Functional Connectivity of Creative Cognition in the Default Mode Network and Cerebellar Network

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.607988 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Abhishek Uday Patil ◽

Deepa Madathil ◽

Chih-Mao Huang

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Default Mode Network ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Networks ◽

Aging Brain ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Default Mode ◽

Creative Cognition ◽

Group Ica

Creativity is a higher-order neurocognitive process that produces unusual and unique thoughts. Behavioral and neuroimaging studies of younger adults have revealed that creative performance is the product of dynamic and spontaneous processes involving multiple cognitive functions and interactions between large-scale brain networks, including the default mode network (DMN), fronto-parietal executive control network (ECN), and salience network (SN). In this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) study, group independent component analysis (group-ICA) and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) measures were applied to examine whether and how various functional connected networks of the creative brain, particularly the default-executive and cerebro-cerebellar networks, are altered with advancing age. The group-ICA approach identified 11 major brain networks across age groups that reflected age-invariant resting-state networks. Compared with older adults, younger adults exhibited more specific and widespread dorsal network and sensorimotor network connectivity within and between the DMN, fronto-parietal ECN, and visual, auditory, and cerebellar networks associated with creativity. This outcome suggests age-specific changes in the functional connected network, particularly in the default-executive and cerebro-cerebellar networks. Our connectivity data further elucidate the critical roles of the cerebellum and cerebro-cerebellar connectivity in creativity in older adults. Furthermore, our findings provide evidence supporting the default-executive coupling hypothesis of aging and novel insights into the interactions of cerebro-cerebellar networks with creative cognition in older adults, which suggest alterations in the cognitive processes of the creative aging brain.

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Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

10.31234/osf.io/a96nw ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Debbie Marianne Yee ◽

Sarah L Adams ◽

Asad Beck ◽

Todd Samuel Braver

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Decision Making ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Task Performance ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Monetary Reward ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Related ◽

Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

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Internet Navigation Skills for Financial Management: Associations with Age, Neurocognitive Performance, and Functional Capacity

10.31234/osf.io/q46r8 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Samina Rahman ◽

Victoria Kordovski ◽

Savanna Tierney ◽

Steven Paul Woods

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Functional Capacity ◽

Financial Management ◽

Internet Banking ◽

Online Banking ◽

Neurocognitive Performance ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Neurocognitive Functions ◽

Age Related ◽

Use Factors

Objective: Online banking is becoming increasingly common among older adults, whomay experience difficulties effectively navigating this instrumental technology. Thisstudy examined age effects on a performance-based Internet banking task and itsassociation with neurocognitive ability and functional capacity in older and youngeradults. Method: Thirty-five older adults and 50 younger adults completed anexperimenter-controlled online banking measure in which they independentlyperformed a series of naturalistic financial tasks (e.g., account transfers, bill paying).Participants also completed a standardized battery of neuropsychological tests andmeasures of functional capacity. Results: Older adults were markedly slower and lessaccurate in completing the Internet-based banking task, which was not confounded byother demographic, mood, or computer use factors. Higher scores on measures ofneurocognition and financial functional capacity were both strongly associated withhigher Internet-based banking task accuracy scores and quicker completion times inthe older, but not the younger adults. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adultsexperience difficultly quickly and accurately navigating online banking platforms, whichmay be partly related to age-related declines in neurocognitive functions and basicfinancial capacity. Future studies might examine whether neurocognitive approaches toremediation and compensation can be used to improve online banking capacity inolder adults.

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Positive Emodiversity Buffers the Association Between Stress and Depressive Symptoms

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2250 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 653-653

Author(s):

Lizbeth Benson ◽

Anthony Ong

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Life Span ◽

Daily Diary ◽

National Study ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Shannon's Entropy ◽

Daily Experiences ◽

Age Related ◽

Optimal Functioning

Abstract Intensive measurements of individuals’ experiences allow for identifying patterns of functioning that may be markers of resilience, and whether such patterns differ across the life span. Using 8 daily diary reports collected in the second burst of the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE, n=848, age 34-84; 55%female), we examined whether positive emodiversity (Shannon’s entropy) attenuated the association between cumulative stressor exposure and depressive symptoms, and age-related differences therein. Results indicated age moderated the extent to which positive emodiversity attenuated the association between stress and depressive symptoms (b=0.11, p < .05). The attenuated association was strongest for younger adults with higher positive emodiversity, compared to those with lower positive emodiversity. For older adults, the association between stress and depressive symptoms was relatively similar regardless of their positive emodiversity. Implications pertain to for whom and in what contexts specific types of dynamic emotion experiences may promote optimal functioning and resilience.

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IC-P-133: Music as a probe of default mode network function in young-onset Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.155 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (7S_Part_2) ◽

pp. P91-P91

Author(s):

Catherine F. Slattery ◽

Jennifer L. Agustus ◽

Ross W. Paterson ◽

Mark J. White ◽

Alexander J.M. Foulkes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Default Mode Network ◽

Default Mode ◽

Young Onset ◽

Network Function

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The effect of age on postural and cognitive task performance while using vibrotactile feedback

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00083.2014 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 113 (7) ◽

pp. 2127-2136 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Chia-Cheng Lin ◽

Susan L. Whitney ◽

Patrick J. Loughlin ◽

Joseph M. Furman ◽

Mark S. Redfern ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Center Of Pressure ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Balance Performance ◽

Vibrotactile Feedback ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Related ◽

Trunk Tilt ◽

Effect Of Age

Vibrotactile feedback (VTF) has been shown to improve balance performance in healthy people and people with vestibular disorders in a single-task experimental condition. It is unclear how age-related changes in balance affect the ability to use VTF and if there are different attentional requirements for old and young adults when using VTF. Twenty younger and 20 older subjects participated in this two-visit study to examine the effect of age, VTF, sensory condition, cognitive task, duration of time, and visit on postural and cognitive performance. Postural performance outcome measures included root mean square of center of pressure (COP) and trunk tilt, and cognitive performance was assessed using the reaction time (RT) from an auditory choice RT task. The results showed that compared with younger adults, older adults had an increase in COP in fixed platform conditions when using VTF, although they were able to reduce COP during sway-referenced platform conditions. Older adults also did not benefit fully from using VTF in their first session. The RTs for the secondary cognitive tasks increased significantly while using the VTF in both younger and older adults. Older adults had a larger increase compared with younger adults, suggesting that greater attentional demands were required in older adults when using VTF information. Future training protocols for VTF should take into consideration the effect of aging.

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Adult age differences in subjective responses to dynamic socioemotional incentives

10.31234/osf.io/4u3kc ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sade J Abiodun ◽

Galen McAllister ◽

Gregory Russell Samanez-Larkin ◽

Kendra Leigh Seaman

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Age Differences ◽

Emotional Valence ◽

Incentive Motivation ◽

Social Signals ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Positivity Effect ◽

Adult Age ◽

Age Related ◽

Adult Age Differences

Facial expressions are powerful communicative social signals that motivate feelings and action in the observer. However, research on incentive motivation has overwhelmingly focused on money and points and the limited research on social incentives has been mostly focused on responses in young adulthood. Previous research on the age-related positivity effect and adult age differences in social motivation suggest that older adults might experience higher levels of positive arousal to socioemotional stimuli than younger adults. Affect ratings following dynamic emotional expressions (anger, happiness, sadness) varying in magnitude of expression showed that higher magnitude expressions elicited higher arousal and valence ratings. Older adults did not differ significantly in levels of arousal when compared to younger adults, however their ratings of emotional valence were significantly higher as the magnitude of expressions increased. The findings provide novel evidence that socioemotional incentives may be relatively more reinforcing as adults age. More generally, these dynamic socioemotional stimuli that vary in magnitude are ideal for future studies of more naturalistic affect elicitation, studies of social incentive processing, and use in incentive-driven choice tasks.

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