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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
Published on: August 26, 2011
More is less: emotion induced prefrontal cortex activity habituates in aging
David R Roalf1, Trisha A Pruis, Alexander A Stevens
1Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA. roalfd@ohsu.edu
Neurobiology of Aging
|November 17, 2009
Summary
Older adults show altered brain activity patterns, with reduced amygdala and increased prefrontal cortex engagement for emotional stimuli. This suggests changes in emotional processing and cognitive control with aging.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Age-related changes in brain activity are documented, including reduced amygdala and increased prefrontal cortex responses to emotional stimuli.
- Existing research highlights differences in emotional processing between younger and older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how aging affects the maintenance of brain activity in response to emotional stimuli.
- To determine if the maintenance of activity differs based on the emotional valence (negative, neutral, positive) of stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
- Participants viewed emotional stimuli of varying valence (negative, neutral, positive).
- Brain activity patterns were compared between younger and older adult groups.
Main Results:
- Younger participants exhibited greater amygdala activity but less prefrontal cortex activity than older adults.
- Older adults showed more habituation to highly arousing negative stimuli in the prefrontal cortex compared to younger adults.
- Prefrontal cortex activity indexed emotion in the elderly, but not the young, suggesting amplified cognitive control for negative stimuli that is not maintained.
Conclusions:
- Age-related increases in prefrontal cortex activity and reduced amygdala activity may explain observed affective changes in aging.
- Prefrontal cortex activity appears to play a distinct role in emotional processing for the elderly.
- The findings suggest that while older adults may increase cognitive control for negative emotional stimuli, this control is not consistently maintained.
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