R01AG072658

Characterizing and Modulating Neurocognitive Processes of Learning to Trust and Distrust in Aging - Project Summary

Much of human interaction is based on trust. Aging has been associated with deficits in trust-related decision making, likely further exacerbated in age-associated neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer's disease/AD), possibly underlying the dramatically growing public health problem of elder fraud.

Optimal trust-related decision making and avoiding exploitation require the ability to learn about the trustworthiness of social partners across multiple interactions, but the role that learning plays in determining age deficits in trust decisions is currently unknown.

To address this gap, this project will:
(I) Characterize basic cognitive processes and neural mechanisms in learning to trust and distrust in healthy aging and in older individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and a family history of AD, representing an 'early' preclinical AD group; and
(II) Probe the malleability of these processes with training to form the foundation for future clinical intervention toward reducing exploitation vulnerability in aging.

The proposed work is conceptually embedded in the Changes in Integration for Social Decisions in Aging (CISDA) framework. This framework describes how the integration of decision-relevant information is impacted by trajectories of change in theory of mind, memory systems, and social-emotional processing with age.

Two innovative trust-learning paradigms – the Social Iowa Gambling Task (SIGT) and the Florida-Arizona Gambling Task (FLAG) – will be leveraged to test CISDA predictions across three experiments and complemented by an ecologically valid transfer task assessing elder fraud susceptibility.

The proposed research addresses three goals.

Aim 1/Study 1: Confirm age deficits in learning to trust in an adult lifespan sample that also includes older individuals with SCD and determine the extent to which social cues of trustworthiness bias trust-related decisions and learning in older age and individuals with SCD. Further, this study will use computational modeling to isolate specific learning biases (social cue, loss aversion, and recency) within the CISDA framework.

Aim 2/Study 2: Use fMRI versions of the two new learning paradigms to confirm altered anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala activity, and their interplay, as neural mechanisms of age-associated learning deficits.

Aim 3/Study 3: Probe the malleability of the underlying neurocircuitry of trust-learning deficits in aging. This study will utilize real-time fMRI neurofeedback to train healthy older adults in anterior cingulate cortex up-regulation toward enhanced trust-related learning in aging and confirm critical mechanisms of experience-dependent social decisions in aging.

This project's interdisciplinary approach encompasses experimental and affective aging, neuroeconomics, and computational neuroscience. Collectively, this research will advance the basic science of social decision making in aging and determine the malleability of underlying neurocircuitry to inform decision-supportive intervention targeted at optimizing trust-related decision making and reducing exploitation in the elderly.

University Of Florida

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM; TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS; TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS; TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

Gainesville, Florida 326115500 United States

Single Zip Code

Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) (PA-20-184)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 461% from $636,828 to $3,573,393.