Abstract
The impact of acute and chronic stress on decision making among older adults
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Supplement, Vol.2013, pp.120c-120c
01/01/2013
Abstract
It is a well-known phenomenon that stress can lead to hippocampal damage and a subsequent decline in anterograde memory. We are now learning that stress may also damage the prefrontal cortex (e.g., Lupien et al., 2009), a brain region involved in important everyday abilities such as divided attention, judgment, and decision making. Interestingly, several of the brain regions vulnerable to increased levels of stress, such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, are also known to undergo disproportionate decline during normal aging (e.g., Cabeza, Raz, & Park, 2005; Gunning-Dixon, 2009). Therefore, it is surprising that no published research to date has examined the effects of stress on decision making in the elderly. In order to address these gaps in the literature, we investigated how acute and chronic stress impact decision-making performance in a healthy older adult sample. Acute stress was induced by the administration of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Chronic stress was measured by: chronic stress questionnaires, the UCLA Life Stress Interview, and diurnal salivary Cortisol. Decision-making performance was measured by tasks that assess: 1) decision making under risk; 2) decision making under ambiguity; and 3) temporal discounting. Preliminary analyses suggest a trend towards less risky decision-making among stressed older adults for the Cups Task. Regarding chronic stress, negative correlations were observed between measures of cognition and measures of chronic stress, including the chronic stress questionnaires and interview.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The impact of acute and chronic stress on decision making among older adults
- Creators
- Georgina MorenoWhitney StrongWilliam HedgcockDaniel TranelNatalie Denburg
- Resource Type
- Abstract
- Publication Details
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Supplement, Vol.2013, pp.120c-120c
- ISSN
- 1096-8857
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/01/2013
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neurology
- Record Identifier
- 9984071742102771
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