Altered Value Coding in the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Healthy Older Adults

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Aging
• Decision Making

Background:

• Aging is linked to altered risk-taking behaviors, yet the neural mechanisms remain unclear.
• Understanding age-related differences in neural processing of value and risk is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age differences in functional neural responses during a naturalistic risk-taking task.
• To examine how young and older adults' brains process risk and value.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in 26 young and 27 older adults.
• Participants completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), a naturalistic risk-taking task.
• Neural activity was analyzed in response to risky vs. control stimuli and parametrically modulated by continued pumping.

Main Results:

• Young and older adults exhibited similar overt risk-taking behavior on the BART.
• Both age groups showed comparable neural activation in the anterior insula (AI) and striatum.
• Differences emerged in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), suggesting altered value coding in older adults.

Conclusions:

• Neural tracking of risk (AI) and reward (striatum) is preserved in older adults.
• Older adults display altered value coding and integration in the vmPFC.
• Neural activation predicts behavioral risk-taking in young but not older adults.