Journal article
The ability to decide advantageously declines prematurely in some normal older persons
Neuropsychologia, Vol.43(7), pp.1099-1106
2005
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.09.012
PMID: 15769495
Abstract
The prefrontal region of the brain, including the ventromedial sector which supports reasoning and decision-making, may undergo disproportionate aging in some older persons, but the empirical evidence is decidedly mixed. To help resolve this, we tested 80 neurologically and psychiatrically healthy Younger (aged 26–55) and Older (aged 56–85) adults on a “Gambling Task”, which provides a close analog to real-world decision-making by factoring in reward, punishment, and unpredictability, yielding a sensitive index of ventromedial prefrontal function. A subset of the Older group manifested a decision-making impairment on the Gambling Task, in spite of otherwise intact cognitive functioning. This finding raises the possibility of disproportionate aging of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in these individuals. Our finding has important societal and public policy implications (e.g., choosing medical care, allocating personal wealth), and may also help explain why many older individuals are targeted by and susceptible to fraudulent advertising.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The ability to decide advantageously declines prematurely in some normal older persons
- Creators
- N.L DenburgD TranelA Bechara
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Neuropsychologia, Vol.43(7), pp.1099-1106
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.09.012
- PMID
- 15769495
- NLM abbreviation
- Neuropsychologia
- ISSN
- 0028-3932
- eISSN
- 1873-3514
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2005
- Academic Unit
- Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984002451502771
Metrics
22 Record Views