Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

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.

Measuring the subjective cost of listening effort using a discounting task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Jordan McLaughlin ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver ◽  
Jonathan E. Peelle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Economic Decision Making

Purpose: Objective measures of listening effort have been gaining prominence, as they provide metrics to quantify the difficulty of understanding speech under a variety of circumstances. A key challenge has been to develop paradigms that enable the complementary measurement of subjective listening effort in a quantitatively precise manner. In the present study, we introduce a novel decision-making paradigm to examine age-related and individual differences in subjective effort during listening.Method: Older and younger adults were presented with spoken sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). On each trial subjects were offered the choice between completing an easier listening trial (presented at +20 dB SNR) for a smaller monetary reward, or a harder listening trial (presented at either +4, 0, -4, -8, or -12 dB SNR) for a greater monetary reward. By varying the amount of the reward offered for the easier option, the subjective value of performing effortful listening trials at each SNR could be assessed. Results: Older adults discounted the value of effortful listening to a greater degree than young adults, opting to accept less money in order to avoid more difficult SNRs. Additionally, older adults with poorer hearing and smaller working memory capacities were more likely to choose easier trials; however, in younger adults, no relationship with hearing or working memory was found. Self-reported measures of economic status did not affect these relationships. Conclusion: These findings suggest that subjective listening effort depends on factors including, but not necessarily limited to, hearing and working memory. Additionally, this study demonstrates that economic decision-making paradigms can be a useful approach for assessing subjective listening effort, and may prove beneficial in future research.

scholarly journals Measuring the Subjective Cost of Listening Effort Using a Discounting Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-347
Author(s):  
Drew J. McLaughlin ◽  
Todd S. Braver ◽  
Jonathan E. Peelle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Economic Decision Making

Purpose Objective measures of listening effort have been gaining prominence, as they provide metrics to quantify the difficulty of understanding speech under a variety of circumstances. A key challenge has been to develop paradigms that enable the complementary measurement of subjective listening effort in a quantitatively precise manner. In this study, we introduce a novel decision-making paradigm to examine age-related and individual differences in subjective effort during listening. Method Older and younger adults were presented with spoken sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). On each trial, subjects were offered the choice between completing an easier listening trial (presented at +20 dB SNR) for a smaller monetary reward and completing a harder listening trial (presented at either +4, 0, −4, −8, or −12 dB SNR) for a greater monetary reward. By varying the amount of the reward offered for the easier option, the subjective value of performing effortful listening trials at each SNR could be assessed. Results Older adults discounted the value of effortful listening to a greater degree than young adults, opting to accept less money in order to avoid more difficult SNRs. Additionally, older adults with poorer hearing and smaller working memory capacities were more likely to choose easier trials; however, in younger adults, no relationship with hearing or working memory was found. Self-reported measures of economic status did not affect these relationships. Conclusions These findings suggest that subjective listening effort depends on factors including, but not necessarily limited to, hearing and working memory. Additionally, this study demonstrates that economic decision-making paradigms can be a useful approach for assessing subjective listening effort and may prove beneficial in future research.

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

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (7) ◽  
pp. 2127-2136 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Advanced Aging Enhances the Positivity Effect in Memory: Due to Cognitive Control or Age-Related Decline in Emotional Processing?

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiko Sakaki ◽  
Jasmine A. L. Raw ◽  
Jamie Findlay ◽  
Mariel Thottam
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Positivity Effect ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Conditioned Responses

Older adults typically remember more positive than negative information compared to their younger counterparts; a phenomenon referred to as the ‘positivity effect.’ According to the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), the positivity effect derives from the age-related motivational shift towards attaining emotionally meaningful goals which become more important as the perception of future time becomes more limited. Cognitive control mechanisms are critical in achieving such goals and therefore SST predicts that the positivity effect is associated with preserved cognitive control mechanisms in older adults. In contrast, the aging-brain model suggests that the positivity effect is driven by an age-related decline in the amygdala which is responsible for emotional processing and emotional learning. The aim of the current research was to address whether the age-related positivity effect is associated with cognitive control or impaired emotional processing associated with aging. We included older old adults, younger old adults and younger adults and tested their memory for emotional stimuli, cognitive control and amygdala-dependent fear conditioned responses. Consistent with prior research, older adults, relative to younger adults, demonstrate better memory for positive over negative images. We further found that within a group of older adults, the positivity effect increases as a function of age, such that older old adults demonstrated a greater positivity effect compared to younger older adults. Furthermore, the positivity effect in older old adults was associated with preserved cognitive control, supporting the prediction of SST. Contrary to the prediction of the aging-brain model, participants across all groups demonstrated similar enhanced skin conductance responses to fear conditioned stimuli – responses known to rely on the amygdala. Our results support SST and suggest that the positivity effect in older adults is achieved by the preserved cognitive control mechanisms and is not a reflection of the impaired emotional function associated with age.

Strive to Win or Not to Lose? Age-Related Differences in Framing Effects on Effort-Based Decision-Making

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 2095-2105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaileigh A Byrne ◽  
Reza Ghaiumy Anaraky
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Framing Effects ◽  
Loss Prevention ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Trial Basis ◽  
High Effort

Abstract Objectives This study sought to assess how framing effects modulate age-related differences in effort-based decision-making. Consistent with the selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) model’s loss prevention account of aging, we predicted that older adults would be more willing to select high-effort options in loss contexts than gain contexts. Method Older and younger adults completed the effort expenditure for rewards task (EEfRT) in either a gain or loss context. The EEfRT is an effort-based decision-making paradigm in which participants choose between a low-effort, “easy” option and a high-effort, “hard” option for several trials. The probability and value of an outcome varies on a trial-by-trial basis. Results The results supported our prediction and the SOC model. Older adults chose more high-effort, difficult options in loss frames than gain frames. Older adults also chose more low-effort, easy options than younger adults in gain contexts, but did not differ from younger adults in loss contexts. Discussion These findings demonstrate that framing effects impact older adults’ effort-based decisions. Older adults appear willing to incur a greater “cost” in the form of effort to prevent a loss than to attain a reward.

scholarly journals Multiple Chronic Condition Combinations and Cognitive Task Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 479-479
Author(s):  
Aaron Ogletree ◽  
Benjamin Katz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Multiple Chronic Conditions ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance ◽  
Verbal Analogies

Abstract A growing body of literature describes important advances in the study of chronic conditions, most notably a paradigm shift from the study of individual chronic conditions to the study of multiple chronic conditions (MCCs). Despite these advances, little research has explored MCC combinations, and almost no published research has explored how MCC combinations are related to cognitive outcomes in older adult populations. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we categorized 17,349 older adults into one of 32 groups using self-reports of five of the most commonly diagnosed conditions. These included arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, hypertension, and respiratory problems. We utilized ANOVA to examine the associations between combinations of MCCs and performance on two cognitive tasks associated with executive function and fluid intelligence: verbal fluency and verbal analogies. Results demonstrated that older adults with a greater number of health conditions performed more poorly on both the verbal fluency (p<.0001) and analogies (p<.0001) tasks than those with fewer conditions. Some MCC combinations were associated with poorer cognitive task performance than other combinations: for example, older adults in the Heart-Hypertension-Respiratory group had an average score of 488.73 (SD=24.96) on the verbal analogies task and 14.06 (SD=7.06) on the verbal fluency task. Conversely, adults in the Arthritis-Heart-Respiratory group had average scores of 503.69 (SD=27.89) and 16.45 (SD=7.03), respectively, suggesting differential additive effects of MCCs. These findings demonstrate the complex associations of specific MCC combinations with cognitive performance and highlight the importance of better understanding the unique needs of older people with MCCs.

scholarly journals Effect of Cognitive Control on Attentional Processing of Emotional Information Among Older Adults: Evidence From an Eye-Tracking Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haining Liu ◽  
Haihong Liu ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Buxin Han ◽  
Cuili Wang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Spatial Cueing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cueing Task ◽  
Engagement And Disengagement

Background: Although numerous studies have suggested that the gradually increasing selective preference for positive information over negative information in older adults depends on cognitive control processes, few have reported the characteristics of different attention stages in the emotional processing of older individuals. The present study used a real-time eye-tracking technique to disentangle the attentional engagement and disengagement processes involved in age-related positivity effect (PE).Methods: Eye movement data from a spatial-cueing task were obtained for 32 older and 32 younger healthy participants. The spatial-cueing task with varied cognitive loads appeared to be an effective way to explore the role of cognitive control during the attention engagement and disengagement stages of emotion processing.Results: Compared with younger adults, older participants showed more positive gaze preferences when cognitive resources were sufficient for face processing at the attention engagement stage. However, the age-related PE was not observed at the attention disengagement stage because older adults had more difficulty disengaging from fearful faces than did the younger adults due to the consumption of attention by the explicit target judgment.Conclusion: The present study highlights how cognitive control moderates positive gaze preferences at different attention processing stages. These findings may have far-reaching implications for understanding, preventing, and intervening in unsuccessful aging and, thus, in promoting active and healthy aging.

scholarly journals Age-related neural correlates of cognitive task performance under increased postural load

AGE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 2111-2124 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Van Impe ◽  
S. M. Bruijn ◽  
J. P. Coxon ◽  
N. Wenderoth ◽  
S. Sunaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance ◽  
Postural Load

Age-Related Differences in Learning Incidental Environmental Information

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly E. Caine ◽  
Timothy A. Nichols ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk ◽  
Wendy A. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Target Letter ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Verbal Knowledge

Incidental environmental information is consistent, potentially beneficial, information that is not necessary for successful task performance (i.e., is seemingly unrelated to the task). In the present study, older and younger participants searched for target letters among distractor letters both of which were laid upon color environments, such that certain color environments predictively correlated with target letter location at varying degrees of consistency. Neither group could express verbal knowledge of the pattern of the environmental information although younger but not older adults showed improved performance in conditions where incidental information cued target location. The findings suggest that younger adults can benefit from incidental environmental information even when they cannot express that it is present in a task but that older adults may need additional cues to benefit from the information.

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

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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