The physiological hypothesis of affective aging

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Emotions impact health, well-being, social relationships and decision-making. It is crucial to understand how the brain and nervous system create emotions if we are to intervene in emotion-based problems. Yet most of what we know about the biology of emotions is from the study of young adults (30 years old) and there are important changes in emotions from early to late adulthood. Most research to date has focused on how older adults’ changing motives or declines in cognitive ability alter emotions. This research investigates whether biological aging of the brain and nervous system itself changes adults’ emotions by reducing the intensity of bodily sensations during emotions. An understanding of the biological processes that contribute to emotions across the adult lifespan is essential for our nation and world given a rapidly aging population and an uptick in mood-based illnesses. The proposed research will additionally provide important educational impacts for graduate and undergraduate students to conduct interdisciplinary STEM research uniting psychology, physiology, and statistics.The proposed research integrates psychological theory with technological advances in measuring brain activity, peripheral physiology (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance), and emotional experience in both the field and lab to understand whether aging of the brain and peripheral nerves is associated with changes in emotions. A large-scale cross-sectional study of 90 adults (aged 18-80) will assesses the link between the brain (i.e., structure and functional connectivity), peripheral physiology (i.e., autonomic nervous system activity), experience (i.e., emotional intensity) and behavior (i.e., emotion regulation success, emotion-based decision-making) during emotions in both daily life and the lab. Advanced statistical techniques such as network analyses and longitudinal time-series analyses will be employed to understand the linkage between brain, body, and emotion across participants of different ages. Understanding the linked role of the brain, body, and emotion may improve our understanding of how both the body and mind change across the adult age-span. It may also inform applied advancements in the areas of emotion-related illnesses and statistical modeling of brain function.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.