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Huang YT, Yan SH, Chuang YF, Shih YC, Huang YS, Liu YC, Kao SSC, Chiu YL, Fan YT. A mediation approach in resting-state connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate in mild cognitive impairment. Aging Clin Exp Res 2024; 36:154. [PMID: 39078432 PMCID: PMC11289021 DOI: 10.1007/s40520-024-02805-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024]
Abstract
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is recognized as the prodromal phase of dementia, a condition that can be either maintained or reversed through timely medical interventions to prevent cognitive decline. Considerable studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have indicated that altered activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) serves as an indicator of various cognitive stages of aging. However, the impacts of intrinsic functional connectivity in the mPFC as a mediator on cognitive performance in individuals with and without MCI have not been fully understood. In this study, we recruited 42 MCI patients and 57 healthy controls, assessing their cognitive abilities and functional brain connectivity patterns through neuropsychological evaluations and resting-state fMRI, respectively. The MCI patients exhibited poorer performance on multiple neuropsychological tests compared to the healthy controls. At the neural level, functional connectivity between the mPFC and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was significantly weaker in the MCI group and correlated with multiple neuropsychological test scores. The result of the mediation analysis further demonstrated that functional connectivity between the mPFC and ACC notably mediated the relationship between the MCI and semantic fluency performance. These findings suggest that altered mPFC-ACC connectivity may have a plausible causal influence on cognitive decline and provide implications for early identifications of neurodegenerative diseases and precise monitoring of disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiyuan Teresa Huang
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Sui-Hing Yan
- Department of Neurology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Fang Chuang
- Department of Psychiatry, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
- Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei City, Taiwan
- International Health Program, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yao-Chia Shih
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, Yuan Ze University, Building 3 R3705, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, 32003, Taiwan
| | - Yan-Siang Huang
- Department of Neurology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Chien Liu
- Department of Neurology, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Scott Shyh-Chang Kao
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, Yuan Ze University, Building 3 R3705, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, 32003, Taiwan
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Ling Chiu
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, Yuan Ze University, Building 3 R3705, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, 32003, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Research, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Yang-Teng Fan
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, Yuan Ze University, Building 3 R3705, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, 32003, Taiwan.
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2
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Valdebenito-Oyarzo G, Martínez-Molina MP, Soto-Icaza P, Zamorano F, Figueroa-Vargas A, Larraín-Valenzuela J, Stecher X, Salinas C, Bastin J, Valero-Cabré A, Polania R, Billeke P. The parietal cortex has a causal role in ambiguity computations in humans. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002452. [PMID: 38198502 PMCID: PMC10824459 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Humans often face the challenge of making decisions between ambiguous options. The level of ambiguity in decision-making has been linked to activity in the parietal cortex, but its exact computational role remains elusive. To test the hypothesis that the parietal cortex plays a causal role in computing ambiguous probabilities, we conducted consecutive fMRI and TMS-EEG studies. We found that participants assigned unknown probabilities to objective probabilities, elevating the uncertainty of their decisions. Parietal cortex activity correlated with the objective degree of ambiguity and with a process that underestimates the uncertainty during decision-making. Conversely, the midcingulate cortex (MCC) encodes prediction errors and increases its connectivity with the parietal cortex during outcome processing. Disruption of the parietal activity increased the uncertainty evaluation of the options, decreasing cingulate cortex oscillations during outcome evaluation and lateral frontal oscillations related to value ambiguous probability. These results provide evidence for a causal role of the parietal cortex in computing uncertainty during ambiguous decisions made by humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Valdebenito-Oyarzo
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Social y Neuromodulación, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, (neuroCICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - María Paz Martínez-Molina
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Social y Neuromodulación, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, (neuroCICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Patricia Soto-Icaza
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Social y Neuromodulación, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, (neuroCICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Francisco Zamorano
- Unidad de Neuroimágenes Cuantitativas avanzadas (UNICA), Departamento de Imágenes, Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Santiago, Chile
- Facultad de Ciencias para el Cuidado de la Salud, Campus Los Leones, Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alejandra Figueroa-Vargas
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Social y Neuromodulación, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, (neuroCICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Josefina Larraín-Valenzuela
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Social y Neuromodulación, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, (neuroCICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Ximena Stecher
- Unidad de Neuroimágenes Cuantitativas avanzadas (UNICA), Departamento de Imágenes, Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Santiago, Chile
| | - César Salinas
- Unidad de Neuroimágenes Cuantitativas avanzadas (UNICA), Departamento de Imágenes, Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Santiago, Chile
| | - Julien Bastin
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, U1216, Grenoble Institut Neurosciences, Grenoble, France
| | - Antoni Valero-Cabré
- Causal Dynamics, Plasticity and Rehabilitation Group, FRONTLAB team, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière (ICM), CNRS UMR 7225, INSERM U 1127 and Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Information Technology Research Program, Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Barcelona, Spain
- Laboratory for Cerebral Dynamics Plasticity and Rehabilitation, Boston University, School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Rafael Polania
- Decision Neuroscience Lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Pablo Billeke
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Social y Neuromodulación, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, (neuroCICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
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3
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Green MA, Crawford JL, Kuhnen CM, Samanez-Larkin GR, Seaman KL. Multivariate associations between dopamine receptor availability and risky investment decision-making across adulthood. Cereb Cortex Commun 2023; 4:tgad008. [PMID: 37255569 PMCID: PMC10225308 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgad008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Enhancing dopamine increases financial risk taking across adulthood but it is unclear whether baseline individual differences in dopamine function are related to risky financial decisions. Here, thirty-five healthy adults completed an incentive-compatible risky investment decision task and a PET scan at rest using [11C]FLB457 to assess dopamine D2-like receptor availability. Participants made choices between a safe asset (bond) and a risky asset (stock) with either an expected value less than the bond ("bad stock") or expected value greater than the bond ("good stock"). Five measures of behavior (choice inflexibility, risk seeking, suboptimal investment) and beliefs (absolute error, optimism) were computed and D2-like binding potential was extracted from four brain regions of interest (midbrain, amygdala, anterior cingulate, insula). We used canonical correlation analysis to evaluate multivariate associations between decision-making and dopamine function controlling for age. Decomposition of the first dimension (r = 0.76) revealed that the strongest associations were between measures of choice inflexibility, incorrect choice, optimism, amygdala binding potential, and age. Follow-up univariate analyses revealed that amygdala binding potential and age were both independently associated with choice inflexibility. The findings suggest that individual differences in dopamine function may be associated with financial risk taking in healthy adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikella A Green
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, 417 Chapel Dr, Durham, NC 27708, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, 308 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Jennifer L Crawford
- Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453
| | - Camelia M Kuhnen
- UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, 300 Kenan Center Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, 417 Chapel Dr, Durham, NC 27708, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, 308 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Kendra L Seaman
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, Center for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas, 1600 Viceroy Drive, Suite 800, Dallas, TX 75235
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4
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How does decisional capacity evolve with normal cognitive aging: systematic review of the literature. Eur Geriatr Med 2020; 11:117-129. [PMID: 32297227 DOI: 10.1007/s41999-019-00251-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Aging is associated with increased needs related to complex decisions, particularly in medical and social issues. However, the complexity of decision-making involves many neurological functions and structures which are potentially altered by cognitive aging. METHODOLOGY A systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to examine changes in decision-making occurring in normal cognitive aging. The keywords "decision making" and "normal aging" were used to find the clinical studies and literature reviews focused on these changes. RESULTS A total of 97 articles were considered in the review, and ultimately 40 articles were selected, including 30 studies and 10 literature reviews. The data from these studies were of uneven quality and too disparate to allow meta-analysis according to PRISMA criteria. Nevertheless, a key result of the analysis is the decrease of processing speed with aging. In ambiguous decision-making situations, the alteration of the ventromedial system is associated with changes in motivation profiles. These changes can be compensated by experience. However, difficulties arise for older adults in the case of one-off decisions, which are very common in the medical or medico-social domains. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive aging is associated with a slowdown in processing speed of decision-making, especially in ambiguous situations. However, decision-making processes which are based on experience and cases in which sufficient time is available are less affected by aging. These results highlight the relativity of decision-making capacities in cognitive aging.
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5
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Lighthall NR. Neural mechanisms of decision-making in aging. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2019; 11:e1519. [PMID: 31608583 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Revised: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The present review synthesizes findings on decision neuroscience and aging by focusing on decision processes that have been extensively studied in neuroeconomics and critically assessing the driving mechanisms of age-related change. The paper first highlights age-related changes to key brain structures that have been implicated in decision-making, then, reviews specific decision components and discusses investigations of age-related changes to their neural mechanisms. The review also weighs evidence for organic brain aging versus age-related changes to social and psychological factors in mediating age effects. Reviewed findings are discussed in the context of theories and frameworks that have been used to explain trajectories of change in decision-making across adulthood. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Development and Aging Psychology > Reasoning and Decision-Making Neuroscience > Cognition.
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6
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Morriss J, Gell M, van Reekum CM. The uncertain brain: A co-ordinate based meta-analysis of the neural signatures supporting uncertainty during different contexts. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 96:241-249. [PMID: 30550858 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 12/09/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Uncertainty is often inevitable in everyday life and can be both stressful and exciting. Given its relevance to psychopathology and wellbeing, recent research has begun to address the brain basis of uncertainty. In the current review we examined whether there are discrete and shared neural signatures for different uncertain contexts. From the literature we identified three broad categories of uncertainty currently empirically studied using functional MRI (fMRI): basic threat and reward uncertainty, decision-making under uncertainty, and associative learning under uncertainty. We examined the neural basis of each category by using a coordinate based meta-analysis, where brain activation foci from previously published fMRI experiments were drawn together (1998-2017; 87 studies). The analyses revealed shared and discrete patterns of neural activation for uncertainty, such as the insula and amygdala, depending on the category. Such findings will have relevance for researchers attempting to conceptualise uncertainty, as well as clinical researchers examining the neural basis of uncertainty in relation to psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Martin Gell
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Carien M van Reekum
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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7
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Nenciovici L, Allaire-Duquette G, Masson S. Brain activations associated with scientific reasoning: a literature review. Cogn Process 2018; 20:139-161. [DOI: 10.1007/s10339-018-0896-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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8
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McDonald AP, D'Arcy RCN, Song X. Functional MRI on executive functioning in aging and dementia: A scoping review of cognitive tasks. Aging Med (Milton) 2018; 1:209-219. [PMID: 31942499 PMCID: PMC6880681 DOI: 10.1002/agm2.12037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 08/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive decline with aging and dementia is especially poignant with regard to the executive functioning that is necessary for activities of daily independent living. The relationship between age-related neurodegeneration in the prefrontal cortex and executive functioning has been uniquely investigated using task-phase functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to detect brain activity in response to stimuli; however, a comprehensive list of task designs that have been implemented to task-phase fMRI is absent in the literature. The purpose of this review was to recognize what methods have been used to study executive functions with aging and dementia in fMRI tasks, and to describe and categorize them. The following cognitive subdomains were emphasized: cognitive flexibility, planning and decision-making, working memory, cognitive control/inhibition, semantic processing, attention and concentration, emotional functioning, and multitasking. Over 30 different task-phase fMRI designs were found to have been implemented in the literature, all adopted from standard neuropsychological assessments. Cognitive set-shifting and decision-making tasks were particularly well studied in regard to age-related neurodegeneration, while emotional functioning and multitasking designs were found to be the least utilized. Summarizing the information on which tasks have shown the greatest usability will assist in the future design and implementation of effective fMRI experiments targeting executive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew P. McDonald
- Health Sciences and InnovationFraser Health AuthoritySurreyBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Department of MedicineUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Ryan C. N. D'Arcy
- Health Sciences and InnovationFraser Health AuthoritySurreyBritish ColumbiaCanada
- ImageTech LaboratorySimon Fraser UniversitySurreyBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Xiaowei Song
- Health Sciences and InnovationFraser Health AuthoritySurreyBritish ColumbiaCanada
- ImageTech LaboratorySimon Fraser UniversitySurreyBritish ColumbiaCanada
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9
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Liebherr M, Schiebener J, Averbeck H, Brand M. Decision Making under Ambiguity and Objective Risk in Higher Age - A Review on Cognitive and Emotional Contributions. Front Psychol 2017; 8:2128. [PMID: 29270145 PMCID: PMC5723968 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 11/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of decision making plays a highly relevant role in our survival, but is adversely affected during the process of aging. The present review aims to provide a better understanding of age-related differences in decision making and the role of cognitive and emotional factors in this context. We reviewed the literature about age-effects on decision-making performance, focusing on decision making under ambiguous and objective risk. In decisions under ambiguous risks, as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task, decisions are based on the experiences with consequences. In this case, many articles have attributed age-related impairments in decision making to changes in emotional and somatic reward- and punishment processing. In decisions under objective risks, as measured for example by the Game of Dice Task, decisions can be based on explicit information about risks and consequences. In this case, age-related changes have been attributed mainly to a cognitive decline, particularly impaired executive functions. However, recent findings challenge these conclusions. The present review summarizes neuropsychological and neurophysiological findings of age-related differences in decision making under ambiguous and objective risk. In this context, the relevance of learning, but also of cognitive and emotional contributors – responsible for age-related differences in decision making – are additionally pointed out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magnus Liebherr
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
| | - Johannes Schiebener
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Addiction Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
| | - Heike Averbeck
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Brand
- Department of General Psychology: Cognition, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Addiction Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.,Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, Germany
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10
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Zhao Q, Li H, Hu B, Wu H, Liu Q. Abstinent Heroin Addicts Tend to Take Risks: ERP and Source Localization. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:681. [PMID: 29270107 PMCID: PMC5723666 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal decision making is a behavioral characteristic of drug addiction. Indeed, drug addicts prefer immediate rewards at the expense of future interests. Assessing the neurocognitive basis of decision-making related to drug dependence, combining event-related potential (ERP) analysis and source localization techniques, may provide new insights into understanding decision-making deficits in drug addicts and further guide withdrawal treatment. In this study, EEG was performed in 20 abstinent heroin addicts (AHAs) and 20 age-, education- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) while they participated in a simple two-choice gambling task (99 vs. 9). Our behavioral results showed that AHAs tend to select higher-risk choices compared with HCs (i.e., more "99" choices than "9"). ERP results showed that right hemisphere preponderance of stimulus-preceding negativity was disrupted in AHAs, but not in HCs. Feedback-related negativity of difference wave was higher in AHAs than HCs, with the P300 amplitude associated with risk magnitude and valence. Using source localization that allows identification of abnormal brain activity in consequential cognitive stages, including the reward expectation and outcome evaluation stages, we found abnormalities in both behavioral and neural responses on gambling in AHAs. Taken together, our findings suggest AHAs have risk-prone tendency and dysfunction in adaptive decision making, since they continue to choose risky options even after accruing considerable negative scores, and fail to shift to a safer strategy to avoid risk. Such abnormal decision-making bias to risk and immediate reward seeking may be accompanied by abnormal reward expectation and evaluation in AHAs, which explains their high risk-seeking and impulsivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinglin Zhao
- Ubiquitous Awareness and Intelligent Solutions Lab, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Hongqian Li
- Ubiquitous Awareness and Intelligent Solutions Lab, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Bin Hu
- Ubiquitous Awareness and Intelligent Solutions Lab, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Haiyan Wu
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Quanying Liu
- Movement Control & Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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11
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Age-Related Changes in Frontal, Striatal, and Medial Temporal Activity during Expected Value Evaluation. J Neurosci 2017; 37:3442-3444. [PMID: 28356394 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0033-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Revised: 02/26/2017] [Accepted: 02/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
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12
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Cooper JA, Blanco NJ, Maddox WT. Framing matters: Effects of framing on older adults' exploratory decision-making. Psychol Aging 2016; 32:60-68. [PMID: 27977218 DOI: 10.1037/pag0000146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We examined framing effects on exploratory decision-making. In Experiment 1 we tested older and younger adults in two decision-making tasks separated by one week, finding that older adults' decision-making performance was preserved when maximizing gains, but it declined when minimizing losses. Computational modeling indicates that younger adults in both conditions, and older adults in gains maximization, utilized a decreasing threshold strategy (which is optimal), but older adults in losses were better fit by a fixed-probability model of exploration. In Experiment 2 we examined within-subject behavior in older and younger adults in the same exploratory decision-making task, but without a time separation between tasks. We replicated the older adult disadvantage in loss minimization from Experiment 1 and found that the older adult deficit was significantly reduced when the loss-minimization task immediately followed the gains-maximization task. We conclude that older adults' performance in exploratory decision-making is hindered when framed as loss minimization, but that this deficit is attenuated when older adults can first develop a strategy in a gains-framed task. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - W Todd Maddox
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
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13
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14
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Kardos Z, Kóbor A, Takács Á, Tóth B, Boha R, File B, Molnár M. Age-related characteristics of risky decision-making and progressive expectation formation. Behav Brain Res 2016; 312:405-14. [PMID: 27385088 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Revised: 06/30/2016] [Accepted: 07/02/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
During daily encounters, it is inevitable that people take risks. Investigating the sequential processing of risk hazards involve expectation formation about outcome contingencies. The present study aimed to explore risk behavior and its neural correlates in sequences of decision making, particularly in old age, which represents a critical period regarding risk-taking propensity. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task was used in an electrophysiological setting with young and elderly age groups. During the task each additional pump on a virtual balloon increased the likelihood of a balloon burst but also increased the chance to collect more reward. Event-related potentials associated with rewarding feedback were analyzed based on the forthcoming decisions (whether to continue or to stop) in order to differentiate between states of expectation towards gain or loss. In the young, the reward positivity ERP component increased as a function of reward contingencies with the largest amplitude for rewarding feedback followed by the decision to stop. In the elderly, however, reward positivity did not reflect the effect of reward structure. Behavioral indices of risk-taking propensity suggest that the performance of the young and the elderly were dissociable only with respect to response times: The elderly was characterized by hesitation and more deliberative decision making throughout the experiment. These findings signify that sequential tracking of outcome contingencies has a key role in cost-efficient action planning and progressive expectation formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zsófia Kardos
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, RCNS, HAS, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Andrea Kóbor
- Brain Imaging Centre, RCNS, HAS, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Ádám Takács
- Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Brigitta Tóth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, RCNS, HAS, Budapest, Hungary; Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Roland Boha
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, RCNS, HAS, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bálint File
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, RCNS, HAS, Budapest, Hungary; Faculty of Information Technology, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Márk Molnár
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, RCNS, HAS, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
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15
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Potthoff D, Seitz RJ. Role of the first and second person perspective for control of behaviour: Understanding other people's facial expressions. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 109:191-200. [PMID: 26709193 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2015.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2015] [Accepted: 12/17/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Humans typically make probabilistic inferences about another person's affective state based on her/his bodily movements such as emotional facial expressions, emblematic gestures and whole body movements. Furthermore, humans deduce tentative predictions about the other person's intentions. Thus, the first person perspective of a subject is supplemented by the second person perspective involving theory of mind and empathy. Neuroimaging investigations have shown that the medial and lateral frontal cortex are critical nodes in the circuits underlying theory of mind, empathy, as well as intention of action. It is suggested that personal perspective taking in social interactions is paradigmatic for the capability of humans to generate probabilistic accounts of the outside world that underlie a person's control of behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise Potthoff
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Rüdiger J Seitz
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Germany; Centre of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany; Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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Li HJ, Hou XH, Liu HH, Yue CL, Lu GM, Zuo XN. Putting age-related task activation into large-scale brain networks: A meta-analysis of 114 fMRI studies on healthy aging. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 57:156-74. [PMID: 26318367 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.08.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 123] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2015] [Revised: 08/23/2015] [Accepted: 08/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Normal aging is associated with cognitive decline and underlying brain dysfunction. Previous studies concentrated less on brain network changes at a systems level. Our goal was to examine these age-related changes of fMRI-derived activation with a common network parcellation of the human brain function, offering a systems-neuroscience perspective of healthy aging. We conducted a series of meta-analyses on a total of 114 studies that included 2035 older adults and 1845 young adults. Voxels showing significant age-related changes in activation were then overlaid onto seven commonly referenced neuronal networks. Older adults present moderate cognitive decline in behavioral performance during fMRI scanning, and hypo-activate the visual network and hyper-activate both the frontoparietal control and default mode networks. The degree of increased activation in frontoparietal network was associated with behavioral performance in older adults. Age-related changes in activation present different network patterns across cognitive domains. The systems neuroscience approach used here may be useful for elucidating the underlying network mechanisms of various brain plasticity processes during healthy aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui-Jie Li
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Laboratory for Functional Connectome and Development, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Xiao-Hui Hou
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Laboratory for Functional Connectome and Development, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychiatry, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China
| | - Han-Hui Liu
- Youth Work Department, China Youth University of Political Studies, Beijing 100089, China
| | - Chun-Lin Yue
- Institute of Sports Medicine, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
| | - Guang-Ming Lu
- Department of Medical Imaging, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China
| | - Xi-Nian Zuo
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Laboratory for Functional Connectome and Development, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing 400715, China.
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Ryu K, Kim J, Ali A, Kim W, Radlo SJ. Changes in baseball batters' brain activity with increased pitch choice. J Integr Neurosci 2015; 14:369-81. [PMID: 26227537 DOI: 10.1142/s0219635215500193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In baseball, one factor necessary for batters to decide whether to swing or not depends on what type of pitch is thrown. Oftentimes batters will look for their pitch (i.e., waiting for a fastball). In general, when a pitcher has many types of pitches in his arsenal, batters will have greater difficulty deciding upon the pitch thrown. Little research has been investigated the psychophysiology of a batters decision-making processes. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to determine how brain activation changes according to an increase in the number of alternatives (NA) available. A total of 15 male college baseball players participated in this study. The stimuli used in this experiment were video clips of a right-handed pitcher throwing fastball, curve, and slider pitches. The task was to press a button after selecting the fastball as the target stimulus from two pitch choices (fastball and curve), and then from three possibilities (fastball, curve, and slider). Functional and anatomic image scanning magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) runs took 4 and 5[Formula: see text]min, respectively. According to our analysis, the right precentral gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus were activated when the NA was one. The supplementary motor areas (SMA) and primary motor cortex were activated when there were two alternatives to choose from and the inferior orbitofrontal gyrus was specifically activated with three alternatives. Contrary to our expectations, the NA was not a critical factor influencing the activation of related decision making areas when the NA was compared against one another. These findings highlight that specific brain areas related to decision making were activated as the NA increased.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwangmin Ryu
- * Department of Physical Education, Kyungpook National University, Daehak ro 80 Bukgu, Daegu 702-701, Korea
| | - Jingu Kim
- * Department of Physical Education, Kyungpook National University, Daehak ro 80 Bukgu, Daegu 702-701, Korea
| | - Asif Ali
- * Department of Physical Education, Kyungpook National University, Daehak ro 80 Bukgu, Daegu 702-701, Korea
| | - Woojong Kim
- * Department of Physical Education, Kyungpook National University, Daehak ro 80 Bukgu, Daegu 702-701, Korea
| | - Steven J Radlo
- † Department of Kinesiology, Western Illinois University, Macomb IL, 61455, USA
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Samanez-Larkin GR, Knutson B. Decision making in the ageing brain: changes in affective and motivational circuits. Nat Rev Neurosci 2015; 16:278-89. [PMID: 25873038 DOI: 10.1038/nrn3917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 176] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
As the global population ages, older decision makers will be required to take greater responsibility for their own physical, psychological and financial well-being. With this in mind, researchers have begun to examine the effects of ageing on decision making and associated neural circuits. A new 'affect-integration-motivation' (AIM) framework may help to clarify how affective and motivational circuits support decision making. Recent research has shed light on whether and how ageing influences these circuits, providing an interdisciplinary account of how ageing can alter decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory R Samanez-Larkin
- 1] Department of Psychology, 2 Hillhouse Avenue, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. [2]
| | - Brian Knutson
- 1] Department of Psychology, Building 420, Jordan Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. [2]
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Adult age differences in frontostriatal representation of prediction error but not reward outcome. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2015; 14:672-82. [PMID: 24853269 PMCID: PMC4072917 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-014-0297-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Emerging evidence from decision neuroscience suggests that although younger and older adults show similar frontostriatal representations of reward magnitude, older adults often show deficits in feedback-driven reinforcement learning. In the present study, healthy adults completed reward-based tasks that did or did not depend on probabilistic learning, while undergoing functional neuroimaging. We observed reductions in the frontostriatal representation of prediction errors during probabilistic learning in older adults. In contrast, we found evidence for stability across adulthood in the representation of reward outcome in a task that did not require learning. Together, the results identify changes across adulthood in the dynamic coding of relational representations of feedback, in spite of preserved reward sensitivity in old age. Overall, the results suggest that the neural representation of prediction error, but not reward outcome, is reduced in old age. These findings reveal a potential dissociation between cognition and motivation with age and identify a potential mechanism for explaining changes in learning-dependent decision making in old adulthood.
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20
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Prochnow D, Brunheim S, Steinhäuser L, Seitz R. Reasoning about the implications of facial expressions: A behavioral and fMRI study on low and high social impact. Brain Cogn 2014; 90:165-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2014.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2013] [Revised: 04/06/2014] [Accepted: 07/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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21
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Prochnow D, Brunheim S, Kossack H, Eickhoff SB, Markowitsch HJ, Seitz RJ. Anterior and posterior subareas of the dorsolateral frontal cortex in socially relevant decisions based on masked affect expressions. F1000Res 2014; 3:212. [PMID: 26236464 PMCID: PMC4516020 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.4734.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/01/2015] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Socially-relevant decisions are based on clearly recognizable but also not consciously accessible affective stimuli. We studied the role of the dorsolateral frontal cortex (DLFC) in decision-making on masked affect expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Our paradigm permitted us to capture brain activity during a pre-decision phase when the subjects viewed emotional expressions below the threshold of subjective awareness, and during the decision phase, which was based on verbal descriptions as the choice criterion. Using meta-analytic connectivity modeling, we found that the preparatory phase of the decision was associated with activity in a right-posterior portion of the DLFC featuring co-activations in the left-inferior frontal cortex. During the subsequent decision a right-anterior and more dorsal portion of the DLFC became activated, exhibiting a different co-activation pattern. These results provide evidence for partially independent sub-regions within the DLFC, supporting the notion of dual associative processes in intuitive judgments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise Prochnow
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Sascha Brunheim
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Hannes Kossack
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Simon B. Eickhoff
- Institute for Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | | | - Rüdiger J. Seitz
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
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22
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Prochnow D, Brunheim S, Kossack H, Eickhoff SB, Markowitsch HJ, Seitz RJ. Anterior and posterior subareas of the dorsolateral frontal cortex in socially relevant decisions based on masked affect expressions. F1000Res 2014; 3:212. [PMID: 26236464 PMCID: PMC4516020 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.4734.3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Socially-relevant decisions are based on clearly recognizable but also not consciously accessible affective stimuli. We studied the role of the dorsolateral frontal cortex (DLFC) in decision-making on masked affect expressions using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Our paradigm permitted us to capture brain activity during a pre-decision phase when the subjects viewed emotional expressions below the threshold of subjective awareness, and during the decision phase, which was based on verbal descriptions as the choice criterion. Using meta-analytic connectivity modeling, we found that the preparatory phase of the decision was associated with activity in a right-posterior portion of the DLFC featuring co-activations in the left-inferior frontal cortex. During the subsequent decision a right-anterior and more dorsal portion of the DLFC became activated, exhibiting a different co-activation pattern. These results provide evidence for partially independent sub-regions within the DLFC, supporting the notion of dual associative processes in intuitive judgments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise Prochnow
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Sascha Brunheim
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Hannes Kossack
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute for Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
| | - Hans J Markowitsch
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, D-33615, Germany
| | - Rüdiger J Seitz
- Department of Neurology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, D-40225, Germany
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23
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Wiesiolek CC, Foss MP, Diniz PRB. Normal aging and decision-making: a systematic review of the literature of the last 10 years. JORNAL BRASILEIRO DE PSIQUIATRIA 2014. [DOI: 10.1590/0047-2085000000033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Objective Conduct a systematic review to investigate whether healthy elderly have deficits in the decision-making process when compared to the young. Methods We performed a systematic search on SciELO, Lilacs, PsycINFO, Scopus and PubMed database with keywords decision making and aging (according to the description of Mesh terms) at least 10 years. Results We found nine studies from different countries, who investigated 441 young and 377 elderly. All studies used the IOWA Gambling Task as a way of benchmarking the process of decision making. The analysis showed that 78% of the articles did not have significant differences between groups. However, 100% of the studies that assessed learning did find relevant differences. Furthermore, studies that observed the behavior of individuals in the face of losses and gains, 60% of articles showed that the elderly has more disadvantageous choices throughout the task. Conclusion: The consulted literature showed no consensus on the existence of differences in performance of the decision-making process between old and young, but it is observed that the elderly has deficits in learning and a tendency to fewer advantageous choices.
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24
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Meusel LAC, Kansal N, Tchistiakova E, Yuen W, MacIntosh BJ, Greenwood CE, Anderson ND. A systematic review of type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension in imaging studies of cognitive aging: time to establish new norms. Front Aging Neurosci 2014; 6:148. [PMID: 25071557 PMCID: PMC4085499 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2014] [Accepted: 06/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and hypertension in older adults, and the deleterious effect of these conditions on cerebrovascular and brain health, is creating a growing discrepancy between the "typical" cognitive aging trajectory and a "healthy" cognitive aging trajectory. These changing health demographics make T2DM and hypertension important topics of study in their own right, and warrant attention from the perspective of cognitive aging neuroimaging research. Specifically, interpretation of individual or group differences in blood oxygenation level dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET H2O(15)) signals as reflective of differences in neural activation underlying a cognitive operation of interest requires assumptions of intact vascular health amongst the study participants. Without adequate screening, inclusion of individuals with T2DM or hypertension in "healthy" samples may introduce unwanted variability and bias to brain and/or cognitive measures, and increase potential for error. We conducted a systematic review of the cognitive aging neuroimaging literature to document the extent to which researchers account for these conditions. Of the 232 studies selected for review, few explicitly excluded individuals with T2DM (9%) or hypertension (13%). A large portion had exclusion criteria that made it difficult to determine whether T2DM or hypertension were excluded (44 and 37%), and many did not mention any selection criteria related to T2DM or hypertension (34 and 22%). Of all the surveyed studies, only 29% acknowledged or addressed the potential influence of intersubject vascular variability on the measured BOLD or PET signals. To reinforce the notion that individuals with T2DM and hypertension should not be overlooked as a potential source of bias, we also provide an overview of metabolic and vascular changes associated with T2DM and hypertension, as they relate to cerebrovascular and brain health.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nisha Kansal
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ekaterina Tchistiakova
- Sunnybrook Research Institute, Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - William Yuen
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Bradley J MacIntosh
- Sunnybrook Research Institute, Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Carol E Greenwood
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Nicole D Anderson
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada ; Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
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25
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Seaman KL, Howard DV, Howard JH. Adult age differences in subjective and objective measures of strategy use on a sequentially cued prediction task. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2014; 22:170-82. [PMID: 24673615 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2014.898736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Differences in strategy use are thought to underlie age-related performance deficits on many learning and decision-making tasks. Recently, age-related differences in learning to make predictions were reported on the Triplets Prediction Task (TPT). Notably, deficits appeared early in training and continued with experience. To assess if age differences were due to early strategy use, neural networks were used to objectively assess the strategies implemented by participants during Session 1. Then, the relationship between these strategies and performance was examined. Results revealed that older adults were more likely to implement a disadvantageous strategy early in learning, and this led to poorer task performance. Importantly, the relationship between age and task performance was partially mediated by early strategy use, suggesting that early strategy selection played a role in the lower quality of predictions in older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kendra L Seaman
- a Department of Psychology , The Catholic University of America , Washington , DC , USA
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26
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Potvin P, Turmel E, Masson S. Linking neuroscientific research on decision making to the educational context of novice students assigned to a multiple-choice scientific task involving common misconceptions about electrical circuits. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:14. [PMID: 24478680 PMCID: PMC3902357 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2013] [Accepted: 01/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify the brain-based mechanisms of uncertainty and certainty associated with answers to multiple-choice questions involving common misconceptions about electric circuits. Twenty-two scientifically novice participants (humanities and arts college students) were asked, in an fMRI study, whether or not they thought the light bulbs in images presenting electric circuits were lighted up correctly, and if they were certain or uncertain of their answers. When participants reported that they were unsure of their responses, analyses revealed significant activations in brain areas typically involved in uncertainty (anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula cortex, and superior/dorsomedial frontal cortex) and in the left middle/superior temporal lobe. Certainty was associated with large bilateral activations in the occipital and parietal regions usually involved in visuospatial processing. Correct-and-certain answers were associated with activations that suggest a stronger mobilization of visual attention resources when compared to incorrect-and-certain answers. These findings provide insights into brain-based mechanisms of uncertainty that are activated when common misconceptions, identified as such by science education research literature, interfere in decision making in a school-like task. We also discuss the implications of these results from an educational perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elaine Turmel
- Université du Québec à Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Steve Masson
- Université du Québec à Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada
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27
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Spaniol J, Wegier P. Decisions from experience: adaptive information search and choice in younger and older adults. Front Neurosci 2012; 6:36. [PMID: 22435046 PMCID: PMC3303111 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2011] [Accepted: 02/27/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In real-world decision making, choice outcomes, and their probabilities are often not known a priori but must be learned from experience. The dopamine hypothesis of cognitive aging predicts that component processes of experience-based decision making (information search and stimulus–reward association learning) decline with age. Many existing studies in this domain have used complex neuropsychological tasks that are not optimal for testing predictions about specific cognitive processes. Here we used an experimental sampling paradigm with real monetary payoffs that provided separate measures of information search and choice for gains and losses. Compared with younger adults, older adults sought less information about uncertain risky options. However, like younger adults, older participants also showed evidence of adaptive decision making. When the desirable outcome of the risky option was rare (p = 0.10 or 0.20), both age groups engaged in more information search and made fewer risky choices, compared with when the desirable outcome of the risky option was frequent (p = 0.80 or 0.90). Furthermore, loss options elicited more sampling and greater modulation of risk taking, compared with gain options. Overall, these findings support predictions of the dopamine hypothesis of cognitive aging, but they also highlight the need for additional research into the interaction of age and valence (gain vs. loss) on experience-based choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Spaniol
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University Toronto, ON, Canada
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28
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Nakao T, Ohira H, Northoff G. Distinction between Externally vs. Internally Guided Decision-Making: Operational Differences, Meta-Analytical Comparisons and Their Theoretical Implications. Front Neurosci 2012; 6:31. [PMID: 22403525 PMCID: PMC3293150 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2011] [Accepted: 02/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Most experimental studies of decision-making have specifically examined situations in which a single less-predictable correct answer exists (externally guided decision-making under uncertainty). Along with such externally guided decision-making, there are instances of decision-making in which no correct answer based on external circumstances is available for the subject (internally guided decision-making). Such decisions are usually made in the context of moral decision-making as well as in preference judgment, where the answer depends on the subject's own, i.e., internal, preferences rather than on external, i.e., circumstantial, criteria. The neuronal and psychological mechanisms that allow guidance of decisions based on more internally oriented criteria in the absence of external ones remain unclear. This study was undertaken to compare decision-making of these two kinds empirically and theoretically. First, we reviewed studies of decision-making to clarify experimental-operational differences between externally guided and internally guided decision-making. Second, using multi-level kernel density analysis, a whole-brain-based quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies was performed. Our meta-analysis revealed that the neural network used predominantly for internally guided decision-making differs from that for externally guided decision-making under uncertainty. This result suggests that studying only externally guided decision-making under uncertainty is insufficient to account for decision-making processes in the brain. Finally, based on the review and results of the meta-analysis, we discuss the differences and relations between decision-making of these two types in terms of their operational, neuronal, and theoretical characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Nakao
- Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada
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29
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Mata R, Josef AK, Samanez-Larkin GR, Hertwig R. Age differences in risky choice: a meta-analysis. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2011; 1235:18-29. [PMID: 22023565 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06200.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 223] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Does risk taking change as a function of age? We conducted a systematic literature search and found 29 comparisons between younger and older adults on behavioral tasks thought to measure risk taking (N= 4,093). The reports relied on various tasks differing in several respects, such as the amount of learning required or the choice framing (gains vs. losses). The results suggest that age-related differences vary considerably as a function of task characteristics, in particular the learning requirements of the task. In decisions from experience, age-related differences in risk taking were a function of decreased learning performance: older adults were more risk seeking compared to younger adults when learning led to risk-avoidant behavior, but were more risk averse when learning led to risk-seeking behavior. In decisions from description, younger adults and older adults showed similar risk-taking behavior for the majority of the tasks, and there were no clear age-related differences as a function of gain/loss framing. We discuss limitations and strengths of past research and provide suggestions for future work on age-related differences in risk taking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Mata
- Department for Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland.
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30
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Samanez-Larkin GR, Mata R, Radu PT, Ballard IC, Carstensen LL, McClure SM. Age Differences in Striatal Delay Sensitivity during Intertemporal Choice in Healthy Adults. Front Neurosci 2011; 5:126. [PMID: 22110424 PMCID: PMC3217179 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2011.00126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2011] [Accepted: 10/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Intertemporal choices are a ubiquitous class of decisions that involve selecting between outcomes available at different times in the future. We investigated the neural systems supporting intertemporal decisions in healthy younger and older adults. Using functional neuroimaging, we find that aging is associated with a shift in the brain areas that respond to delayed rewards. Although we replicate findings that brain regions associated with the mesolimbic dopamine system respond preferentially to immediate rewards, we find a separate region in the ventral striatum with very modest time dependence in older adults. Activation in this striatal region was relatively insensitive to delay in older but not younger adults. Since the dopamine system is believed to support associative learning about future rewards over time, our observed transfer of function may be due to greater experience with delayed rewards as people age. Identifying differences in the neural systems underlying these decisions may contribute to a more comprehensive model of age-related change in intertemporal choice.
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Abstract
In this paper, we review the current literature to highlight relations between age-associated declines in dopaminergic and serotonergic neuromodulation and adult age differences in adaptive goal-directed behavior. Specifically, we focus on evidence suggesting that deficits in neuromodulation contribute to older adults' behavioral disadvantages in learning and decision making. These deficits are particularly pronounced when reward information is uncertain or the task context requires flexible adaptations to changing stimulus-reward contingencies. Moreover, emerging evidence points to age-related differences in the sensitivity to rewarding and aversive outcomes during learning and decision making if the acquisition of behavior critically depends on outcome processing. These age-related asymmetries in outcome valuation may be explained by age differences in the interplay of dopaminergic and serotonergic neuromodulation. This hypothesis is based on recent neurocomputational and psychopharmacological approaches, which suggest that dopamine and serotonin serve opponent roles in regulating the balance between approach behavior and inhibitory control. Studying adaptive regulation of behavior across the adult life span may shed new light on how the aging brain changes functionally in response to its diminishing resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Eppinger
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
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