Event-related potentials reveal age-related differences in sensitivity to positive and negative feedback from social...

Using external feedback to adjust behavior relies on dopaminergic pathways that are sensitive to age-related change. Prior research using electrophysiological methods has yielded mixed findings regarding age differences in feedback processing. The current study was designed to test predictions of two influential theories-the dopamine hypothesis of aging and socioemotional selectivity theory-regarding the effects of age and feedback properties (valence and social content) on behavioral and electrophysiological markers of feedback processing.

Healthy community-dwelling adults (47 younger, 48 older) completed a time-estimation task with social and nonsocial feedback stimuli while EEG data were acquired. Key outcome measures included behavior as well as feedback-sensitive event-related potentials (ERPs): P2, feedback-related negativity (FRN), and P300.

In both age groups, negative feedback elicited greater behavioral adjustments than positive feedback, and social feedback elicited higher overall performance than nonsocial feedback. Furthermore, all ERP components were sensitive to feedback valence and social content. Whereas both factors were more influential for older versus younger adults during early processing, valence was more influential for younger versus older adults during later processing.

Using a well-powered design, this study shows that age differences in electrophysiological correlates of feedback processing exist even when younger and older adults show similar behavioral responses to feedback. Neither the dopamine theory of aging nor the socioemotional selectivity theory fully accounts for these complex findings, highlighting the need for theoretical refinement and demonstrating the utility of EEG methods in the cognitive neuroscience of aging.