Individual Differences in the Neural Signature of Subjective Value Among Older Adults

Some healthy older adults show departures from standard decision-making patterns exhibited by younger adults. We asked if such departures are uniform or if heterogeneous aging processes can designate which older adults show differing decision patterns. Thirty-three healthy older adults with varying decision-making patterns on a complex decision task (the Iowa Gambling Task) completed an intertemporal choice task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. We examined whether value representation in the canonical valuation network differed across older adults based on complex decision-making ability. Older adults with advantageous decision patterns showed increased activity in the valuation network, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and striatum. In contrast, older adults with disadvantageous decision patterns showed reduced or absent activation in the VMPFC and striatum, and these older adults also showed greater blood oxygen level dependent signal temporal variability in the striatum. Our results suggest that a reduced representation of value in the brain, possibly driven by increased neural noise, relates to suboptimal decision-making in a subset of older adults, which could translate to poor decision-making in many aspects of life, including finance, health and long-term care. Understanding the connection between suboptimal decision-making and neural value signals is a step toward mitigating age-related decision-making impairments

The role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in purchase intent among older adults

Older adults are frequently the targets of scams and deception, with millions of individuals being affected each year in the United States alone. Previous research has shown that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex may play a role in vulnerability to fraud. The current study examined brain activation patterns in relation to susceptibility to scams and fraud using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty-eight healthy, community-dwelling older adults were subdivided into groups of impaired and unimpaired decision makers as determined by their performance on the Iowa Gambling Task. While in the scanner, the participants viewed advertisements that were created directly from cases deemed deceptive by the Federal Trade Commission. We then obtained behavioral measures involving comprehension of claims and purchase intentions of the product in each advertisement. Contrasts show brain activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was less correlated with purchase intention in impaired versus unimpaired older adult decision makers. Our results have important implications for both future research and recognizing the possible causes of fraud susceptibility among older adults

Use of heart rate and heart rate variability in decision making research

<div> <div> <div> <div> <div>Beranek, C.*, Halfmann, K., Kurczek, J., & Hedgcock, W. (2014, March). Use of heart rate and heart rate variability in decision making research. <i>Poster presentation at the Tippie Research Fair</i>, Iowa City, IA.</div><ul> <li> <p>•  The autonomic nervous system controls non- conscious func.ons like breathing, heart beat, and diges.on. </p> </li> <li> <p>•  It can be divided into the sympathe.c nervous system (SNS) which excites and the parasympathe.c nervous system (PNS) which calms. (4) </p> </li> <li> <p>•  Combined, the SNS and PNS control heart rate variability, the change of .me between successive heart beats. (1) </p> </li> <li> <p>•  Using an ECG (electrocardiogram) we can non- invasively observe PNS ac.vity (HR and HRV). </p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div