Exploring the Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Effects of Generativity on Well-Being

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Project Summary Generativity—defined as concern and care for the well-being of others, especially younger generations—is related to better physical and mental health in older adults. Despite the potential for generativity interventions to serve as an important method for improving health and well-being in this population, this is a highly understudied area of research. Furthermore, neurobiological mechanisms behind the effects of generativity on health and well-being have never been examined. As such, this proposal aims to fill these critical gaps in the literature. The goal of this NIA R01 is to investigate the effect of a writing-based generativity intervention on well-being and inflammation in older adults, as well as to examine underlying neurobiological mechanisms behind improvements. Participants (ntotal=200) will be randomly assigned to a 6- week intervention aimed at increasing perceptions of generativity (vs. a control condition). During pre- and post-intervention sessions, all participants will complete: 1) self-report measures of social, mental, and physical well-being, 2) a blood draw (in order to assess multiple markers of inflammation), and 3) a neuroimaging session (in order to assess the caregiving system as a potential neurobiological mechanism). It is hypothesized that participants in the generativity intervention, compared to those in the control condition, will show: 1) improvements in multiple domains of well-being, 2) improvements in biological markers of inflammation (e.g., decreases in pro-inflammatory gene expression), and 3) activation of the neural caregiving system (i.e., increases in neural activity in caregiving-related regions and decreases in threat-related neural activity). Furthermore, it is hypothesized that activation of the neural caregiving system will mediate observed self- reported improvements in social, mental, and physical well-being, as well as inflammatory activity. This study will fill a crucial gap in our understanding of the effect of generativity on well-being and inflammation, as well as the underlying neurobiology of these effects. Finally, these results may ultimately have large-scale public health implications, as they could inform a low-cost, low-effort method for improving health and well-being in older adults.