Prefrontal Brain Structures, Aging, and Decision-Making

描述（由申请人提供）：本修订后的指导研究科学家发展（K 01）申请是一项资金申请，用于支持Natalie Denburg博士所需的培训和研究。成为一个独立的研究人员在老化，认知，和结构成像。申请人正在寻求神经影像学方面的额外培训和教育，特别是，爱荷华州大学是进行此类培训的绝佳场所。Denburg博士的长期研究目标是拥有一个独立的研究项目，旨在从心理过程和神经基质的角度研究衰老认知。 这项研究旨在调查一个假设，即一些看似正常的老年人（即，没有明显的神经或精神疾病）由于包括腹内侧前额叶皮质（VMPC）在内的神经系统功能障碍而在推理和决策方面存在缺陷。这一假设解决了为什么这么多老年人成为欺诈的牺牲品的问题，并且与衰老的综合研究有关。来自PI已接受培训的实验室的试点数据表明，相当数量的正常老年人在实验室任务（赌博任务; GT）上受损，对VMPC获得性损伤患者的推理和决策缺陷敏感。为了验证这一假设，将对120名年龄在26-85岁之间的成年人进行研究，所有人都没有神经和精神疾病。将针对行为、心理生理和神经解剖水平追求三个具体目标：（1）相当大比例的老年人将在GT上受损。心血管疾病的证据），神经心理学特征（例如，执行功能障碍），和现实世界的决策能力（例如，对欺骗性广告声明的误解），将允许检查这些因素可以解释GT缺陷或与GT缺陷相关的程度。在GT上有决策缺陷的老年人将表现出（2）有缺陷的心理生理反应，特别是在预测dsky决策方面，（3）VMPC的不成比例的结构变化。用于决策的替代假设神经基质（例如，内侧颞叶）也将被检查。 调查结果可能会通知干预，除了影响法律的和社会政策有关的广告。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revised Mentored Research Scientist Development (K01) application is a request for funding to support the training and research necessary for Natalie Denburg, Ph.D. to become an independent investigator in aging, cognition, and structural imaging. The applicant is seeking additional training and education in neuroimaging, in particular, and the University of Iowa is a superb place to carry out such training. Dr. Denburg's long-term research objective is to have an independent program of research aimed at the study of aging cognition from the perspectives of both psychological processes and neural substrates. The study aims at investigating the hypothesis that some seemingly normal older persons (i.e., without overt neurological or psychiatric disease) have deficits in reasoning and decision-making, due to dysfunction in a neural system which includes the ventromedial prefrontal cortices (VMPC). This hypothesis addresses the question of why so many older adults fall prey to fraud, and is relevant to the comprehensive study of aging. Pilot data from the laboratory where the PI has been trained have suggested that a sizeable number of normal older adults are impaired on a laboratory task (the Gambling Task; GT) sensitive to reasoning and decision-making defects in patients with acquired damage to the VMPC. To test this hypothesis, 120 adults aged 26-85, all free of neurological and psychiatric disease, will be studied. Three specific objectives will be pursued aimed at behavioral, psychophysiological, and neuroanatomical levels: (1) A significant proportion of older adults will be impaired on the GT. Evaluation of the participants' medical histories (e.g., evidence of cardiovascular disease), neuropsychological profiles (e.g., executive dysfunction), and real-world decisionmaking abilities (e.g., miscomprehension of deceptive advertising claims), will allow for an examination of the extent to which these factors can account for, or correlate with, the GT defect. Older adults with decisionmaking defects on the GT will manifest (2) defective psychophysiological responses, particularly in anticipation of dsky decisions, and (3) disproportionate structural changes in VMPC. Alternative hypothesized neural substrates for decision-making (e.g., medial temporal lobe) will also be examined. The findings may inform intervention, in addition to influencing legal and social policy regarding advertising.