"Hot" and "cold" decision making in younger and older adults

我们在“一时冲动”时做出的选择，往往与我们在“冷静冷静”时做出的选择不同。例子包括不安全的性行为、冲动购物和考虑不周的网上行为。当我们变老时，唤醒对决策的影响会改变吗？******正常的衰老与支持“冷”认知功能（如注意力和认知控制）的神经网络结构和功能完整性的下降有关。相比之下，涉及觉醒的大脑回路显示出相对较小的与年龄相关的变化。尽管近年来“衰老的决策神经科学”这一不断发展的学科取得了重大进展，但该领域仍然缺乏对冷热功能如何影响成年人一生中的决策的全面描述。******提出的研究将是第一个系统地研究情绪唤醒对年轻人和老年人财务损益决策的影响。研究假设来源于最近的文献，表明觉醒可能会缩小注意力，衰老可能与对失去前景的觉醒反应减少有关。本研究将使用一种新颖的唤醒调节决策任务，使决策者面对现实的财务选择。使用多方法方法（选择行为和主观评分；脑电图；眼动追踪；和功能性磁共振成像），拟议的研究将解决四个新的研究问题：******1)唤醒如何影响关键决策因素（时间延迟和风险）对年轻人和老年人关于潜在得失的决策的影响？***2)年轻人和老年人早期觉醒调节决策过程的时间动态是什么？***3)觉醒如何调节与得失相关决策相关的脑功能网络活动？***4)唤醒偏差决策的实验室测量是否能预测现实世界的决策？******回答这些基本问题将显著推进衰老决策神经科学的知识。拟议研究的结果还将为设计适合年龄的决策工具提供创新信息，并有可能支持医疗保健和金融等重要领域的适应性选择。

Choices we make "in the heat of the moment" are often different from those we make while "cool and collected." Examples include unsafe sex, impulse purchases and ill-considered online behaviour. Does the influence of arousal on decision making change as we get older?******Normal aging is associated with decline in the structural and functional integrity of neural networks that support "cold" cognitive functions such as attention and cognitive control. In contrast, brain circuits involved in arousal show relatively little age-related change. Despite significant advances in the growing discipline of "decision neuroscience of aging" in recent years, the field still lacks a comprehensive account of how hot and cold functions shape decisions across the adult lifespan.******The proposed studies will be the first to systematically examine the effects of emotional arousal on decisions about financial gains and losses in younger and older adults. Research hypotheses are derived from recent literature indicating that arousal may narrow attention, and that aging may be associated with a reduced arousal response to loss prospects. The studies will use a novel arousal-modulated decision task that confronts decision makers with realistic financial choices. Using a multi-method approach (choice behaviour and subjective ratings; EEG; eye tracking; and functional magnetic resonance imaging), the proposed studies will address four novel research questions:******1) How does arousal affect the influence of key decision factors (temporal delay and risk) on decisions about potential gains and losses in younger and older adults?***2) What are the temporal dynamics of early arousal-modulated decision processes in younger and older adults?***3) How does arousal modulate activity in functional brain networks involved in gain- and loss-related decisions?***4) Do laboratory measures of arousal-biased decision making predict real-world decision making?******Answering these fundamental questions will significantly advance knowledge within the decision neuroscience of aging. Findings from the proposed studies will also inform innovation in the design of age-appropriate decision tools, with the potential to support adaptive choices in important domains such as healthcare and finance.