The Orbitofrontal Cortex, Real-World Decision Making, and Normal Aging

Natalie L Denburg; Catherine A Cole; Michael Hernandez; Torricia H Yamada; Daniel Tranel; Antoine Bechara; Robert B Wallace

doi:10.1196/annals.1401.031

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The Orbitofrontal Cortex, Real-World Decision Making, and Normal Aging

Journal article

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The Orbitofrontal Cortex, Real-World Decision Making, and Normal Aging

Natalie L Denburg, Catherine A Cole, Michael Hernandez, Torricia H Yamada, Daniel Tranel, Antoine Bechara and Robert B Wallace

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol.1121(1), pp.480-498

12/2007

DOI: 10.1196/annals.1401.031

PMCID: PMC2246008

PMID: 17872394

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/2246008View

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Abstract

The present series of three studies aims at investigating the hypothesis that some seemingly normal older persons have deficits in reasoning and decision making due to dysfunction in a neural system which includes the ventromedial prefrontal cortices. This hypothesis is relevant to the comprehensive study of aging, and also addresses the question of why so many older adults fall prey to fraud. To our knowledge, this work represents the first of its kind to begin to identify, from an individual-differences perspective, the behavioral, psychophysiological, and consumer correlates of defective decision making among healthy older adults. Our findings, in a cross-sectional sample of community-dwelling participants, demonstrate that a sizeable subset of older adults (approximately 35–40%) perform disadvantageously on a laboratory measure of decision making that closely mimics everyday life, by the manner in which it factors in reward, punishment, risk, and ambiguity. These same poor decision makers display defective autonomic responses (or somatic markers), reminiscent of that previously established in patients with acquired prefrontal lesions. Finally, we present data demonstrating that poor decision makers are more likely to fall prey to deceptive advertising, suggesting compromise of real-world judgment and decision-making abilities.

Aging

frontal lobe

decision making

Details

Title: Subtitle: The Orbitofrontal Cortex, Real-World Decision Making, and Normal Aging
Creators: Natalie L Denburg - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Catherine A Cole - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Michael Hernandez - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Torricia H Yamada - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Daniel Tranel - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Antoine Bechara - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Robert B Wallace - Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol.1121(1), pp.480-498
DOI: 10.1196/annals.1401.031
PMID: 17872394
PMCID: PMC2246008
NLM abbreviation: Ann N Y Acad Sci
ISSN: 0077-8923
eISSN: 1749-6632
Language: English
Date published: 12/2007
Academic Unit: Neurology; Marketing; Epidemiology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Injury Prevention Research Center; Internal Medicine
Record Identifier: 9984002369302771

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