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Age Differences in Striatal Delay Sensitivity during Intertemporal Choice in Healthy Adults.
Gregory R Samanez-Larkin1, Rui Mata, Peter T Radu
1Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
|November 24, 2011
Summary
Aging alters brain activity during intertemporal choices. Older adults show reduced sensitivity to reward delays in the ventral striatum, possibly due to life experience with delayed rewards.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Intertemporal choices involve decisions with outcomes at different future times.
- Understanding age-related changes in these decisions is crucial for cognitive models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural differences in intertemporal decision-making between younger and older adults.
- To identify how aging affects brain responses to delayed rewards.
Main Methods:
- Functional neuroimaging (fMRI) was used to study brain activity.
- Participants included healthy younger and older adults.
Main Results:
- Aging is linked to a shift in brain regions responding to delayed rewards.
- Younger adults showed typical mesolimbic dopamine system activation for immediate rewards.
- Older adults exhibited ventral striatum activation less sensitive to reward delay.
Conclusions:
- Neural responses to delayed rewards change with age.
- Experience with delayed rewards may explain age-related neural shifts in decision-making.
- Findings contribute to a comprehensive model of age-related cognitive changes.
