Psychophysiological anticipation of positive outcomes promotes advantageous decision-making in normal older persons
Section snippets
Participants
Using the same rationale and procedures as in the previous study (Denburg et al., 2005b), 40 new participants were recruited. Thus, the overall sample comprised 80 community-dwelling older adults, aged 56 to 85 (40 previous participants, 40 new participants). The two samples did not differ with respect to demographic variables, such as age, education, and gender distribution (p > .05). Participants were financially compensated for their involvement. A structured interview screening procedure was
Results
For our first hypothesis, we sought to determine whether the previous behavioral finding could be replicated in a new sample of 40 older participants. In the new sample, based on the result of the binomial test, 21 participants were “Unimpaired”, achieving overall IGT performance indexes significantly above zero, whereas 10 were “Impaired”, obtaining overall indexes significantly below zero. The remaining nine participants were considered “Borderline”, because their indexes did not differ
Discussion
This study provides a replication and extension of our previous work exploring the nature of decision-making in healthy older adults (Denburg et al., 2005b). Specifically, we replicated in a new elderly sample a previous finding that a sizeable minority of older adults demonstrated impaired decision-making on a complex gambling task that factors in uncertain immediate and delayed rewards and punishments. Of perhaps greater importance, we extended this line of investigation to demonstrate that
Acknowledgement
Preparation of this article was supported by a National Institute on Aging Career Development Award to Natalie L. Denburg (K01 AG022033), and by a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Program Project Grant (P01 NS19632).
References (27)
- et al.
Decision-making and addiction: Part I. Impaired activation of somatic states in substance dependent individuals when pondering decisions with negative future consequences
Neuropsychologia
(2002) - et al.
Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex
Cognition
(1994) - et al.
The ability to decide advantageously declines prematurely in some normal older persons
Neuropsychologia
(2005) - et al.
Decision-making in a risk-taking task: a PET study
Neuropsychopharmacology
(2002) - et al.
Aging and prefrontal functions: dissociating orbitofrontal and dorsolateral abilities
Neurobiology of Aging
(2004) Telemarketing Fraud and Older Americans: An AARP Study
(1996)- et al.
Failure to respond autonomically to anticipated future outcomes following damage to prefrontal cortex
Cerebral Cortex
(1996) - et al.
Different contributions of the human amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex to decision-making
Journal of Neuroscience
(1999) - et al.
Emotion, decision-making, and the orbitofrontal cortex
Cerebral Cortex
(2000) - et al.
Characterization of the decision-making deficit of patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions
Brain
(2000)
Reduced autonomic responsiveness to gambling task losses in Huntington's disease
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Taking time seriously: a theory of socioemotional selectivity
American Psychologist
Age-related differences and change in positive and negative affect over 23 years
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Cited by (118)
Decision making - A neuropsychological perspective
2021, Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience: Second EditionAging, uncertainty, and decision making—A review
2023, Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience