Age Differences in Striatal Delay Sensitivity during Intertemporal Choice in Healthy Adults.

Abstract

Intertemporal choices are a ubiquitous class of decisions that involve selecting between outcomes available at different times in the future. We investigated the neural systems supporting intertemporal decisions in healthy younger and older adults. Using functional neuroimaging, we find that aging is associated with a shift in the brain areas that respond to delayed rewards. Although we replicate findings that brain regions associated with the mesolimbic dopamine system respond preferentially to immediate rewards, we find a separate region in the ventral striatum with very modest time dependence in older adults. Activation in this striatal region was relatively insensitive to delay in older but not younger adults. Since the dopamine system is believed to support associative learning about future rewards over time, our observed transfer of function may be due to greater experience with delayed rewards as people age. Identifying differences in the neural systems underlying these decisions may contribute to a more comprehensive model of age-related change in intertemporal choice.

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Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.3389/fnins.2011.00126

Publication Info

Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R, Rui Mata, Peter T Radu, Ian C Ballard, Laura L Carstensen and Samuel M McClure (2011). Age Differences in Striatal Delay Sensitivity during Intertemporal Choice in Healthy Adults. Front Neurosci, 5. p. 126. 10.3389/fnins.2011.00126 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14580.

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Scholars@Duke

Samanez-Larkin

Gregory Russell Samanez-Larkin

Jerry G. and Patricia Crawford Hubbard Professor

Research in our lab examines how motivation, emotion, and cognition influence decision making and health behavior across the life span. Our research is at the intersection of a number of subfields within psychology, neuroscience, and economics including human development, affective science, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral economics, and consumer finance. We use a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging techniques ranging from detailed measurement of functional brain activity (fMRI) and neuroreceptors (PET) in the laboratory to experience sampling measures of experience and behavior in everyday life, wearable measures physical activity and sleep, and real-world measures of financial management. The goal of our translational research is to make discoveries using the tools of basic science that could inform the development of interventions, products, or services that would enhance health and well being across the life span.

In the classroom, I teach quantitative research methods and statistics, applications of neuroscience research for everyday life, and evidence-based course design in higher education.


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