Aging-related changes in reward-based decision-making depend on punishment frequency: An fMRI study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Aging is associated with cognitive decline and impaired decision-making.
• Older adults exhibit difficulties processing reward and risk information, leading to suboptimal strategies.
• Neural mechanisms underlying risky decision-making under ambiguity in aging remain under-investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate inter-individual differences in risk-taking behaviors among healthy older adults.
• To explore the neural substrates of risky decision-making in aging using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess risk-taking.
• Employed task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in healthy older adults.
• Analyzed brain activations and their correlation with age and decision-making performance.

Main Results:

• Participants improved decisions in advantageous decks but failed to avoid disadvantageous ones.
• Task-related brain activations differed across decks and negatively correlated with age in disadvantageous decks.
• Age-related effects on brain activation in disadvantageous decks, particularly with high punishment frequency, were confirmed.
• Frontal subregion activation mediated the relationship between age, task performance, and high punishment frequency.

Conclusions:

• Findings illuminate the neural basis of altered risk-taking in aging.
• Older adults demonstrate heightened sensitivity to high punishment frequency during decision-making.
• Specific frontal brain regions are crucial for mediating age-related changes in risk processing.