Self-regulation of Health Promotion: the Roles of Momentary Variability in Working Memory Capacity and Neurocognitive Aging

项目摘要 在短期（“工作”）记忆（WM）中实例化和维持目标表征的能力是 人类灵活思考和目标导向行为的能力。重要的是，人类衰老与 控制进入WM并在WM中保持的能力下降（衰老的“执行”假说）。 虽然近年来在神经认知老化的背景下，执行假说已经得到了很好的研究， 人们对这些变化是否与日常生活中的目标导向行为有关仍然知之甚少。作为 一种新的方法来解决这个问题，在目前的一系列研究中，我们将检查大脑成像的贡献， 以实验室为基础的和瞬时（即每日/一天内）的WM评估，以自我调节健康促进 行为（特别是身体活动）。最近的证据表明，执行控制的个体差异 是个人成功地将身体活动目标转化为 日常行为（自我调节能力）。然而，这一点在中年人和 老年人，其中WM和附属脑网络的效率受到改变。一个重要 下一步是在自然环境中的行为水平上检查工作记忆和自我调节。NIH/NIA 正在寻求K99/R 00独立之路奖，以提供门诊PI培训 测量方法（生态瞬时评估，EMA）和资源进行一个新的 一项针对年轻人、中年人和老年人的纵向研究，重点关注瞬时WM能力在 身体活动的自我调节。使用智能手机为基础的EMA将提供一个一瞥到日常 研究参与者的生活，提供了一个新的机会来研究神经认知资源和实验室- 基于对WM控制的评估，投射到个体内的认知和行为轨迹。 目前的提案将： 1)检验工作记忆对健康促进行为的自我调节和健康/良好- 在中年和老年人中的结果。自我报告高度自我调节的人 总体上实现上级健康和福祉结果。然而，对WM的角色控制 加工在调节这些成就方面的作用尚未得到充分研究。 2)开发新的WM容量的动态测量。基于实验室的执行控制任务较少 适合流动部署。WM能力的EMA将对受控的 认知与行为的实时自我调节密切相关。 3)研究作为工作记忆基础的神经认知资源的个体差异 将项目处理成健康促进行为的个体内轨迹。我们预计 支持WM加工的神经认知资源的年龄相关性下降/维持将 在决定个人自我调节身体活动的能力方面发挥关键作用。

Project Summary The ability to instantiate and maintain goal representations in short-term (“working”) memory (WM) is central to human capacities for flexible thought and goal-directed behavior. Critically, human aging is associated with a decline in the ability to control what gains access to and is maintained in WM (“executive” hypothesis of aging). While the executive hypothesis has been well-studied in recent years in context of neurocognitive aging, it remains poorly understood whether these changes are consequential to goal-directed behavior in daily life. As a novel approach to this issue, in the present set of studies we will examine the contribution of brain imaging, lab-based, and momentary (i.e. daily/within-day) assessments of WM to self-regulation of health promotion behavior (specifically, physical activity). Recent evidence shows that individual differences in executive control are a primary determinant of an individual’s ability to successfully translate physical activity goals into daily behavior (i.e. self-regulatory capacity). However, this has been understudied in middle-aged and older adults in whom the efficiency of WM and affiliated brain networks are subject to alteration. An important next step is to examine WM and self-regulation at the level of behavior in naturalistic settings. The NIH/NIA K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award is being sought to provide the PI training in ambulatory measurement methodology (ecological momentary assessments, EMA) and the resources to conduct a novel longitudinal study of younger, middle-aged, and older adults focused on the role of momentary WM abilities in self-regulation of physical activity. The use of smart phone-based EMA will provide a glimpse into the daily lives of study participants, providing a novel opportunity to examine how neurocognitive resources and lab- based assessments of control over WM project out to intra-individual trajectories of cognition and behavior. The current proposal will: 1) Examine the contribution of WM to self-regulation of health promotion behavior and health/well- being outcomes in middle-aged and older adults. Individuals who self-report high self-regulation achieve generally superior health and well-being outcomes. However, the role control over WM processing plays in moderating these achievements has been understudied. 2) Develop novel ambulatory measures of WM capacity. Lab-based executive control tasks are less suitable for ambulatory deployment. EMA of WM capacity will place objective assessment of controlled cognition in close proximity of real-time self-regulation of behavior. 3) Examine how individual differences in the neurocognitive resources that underlie WM processing project out into intra-individual trajectories of health promotion behavior. We expect that age-related declines/maintenance of the neurocognitive resources that support WM processing will play a key role in determining an individual’s capacity to self-regulate physical activity.