Effects and mechanisms of information saliency in enhancing value-based decision-making in younger and older adults.

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

Aging attenuates frontostriatal network functioning, which could lead to deficits in value computation when decision-making involves uncertainty. Although it has been shown that visually enhancing information saliency of outcome probability can improve decision-making in old age, mechanisms of this effect are still unclear. In the present study, the saliency of outcome probability was increased using a color-coding scheme as a decision aid in a mixed lottery choice task, and spontaneous eye-blink rate and pupillary responses were assessed in younger and older adults. Older adults showed lower value sensitivity than younger adults; however, increasing information saliency benefitted choice behaviors in both age groups. Furthermore, the decision aid reduced pupil size during decision-making in both age groups, suggesting that enhancing information saliency decreases cognitive demands of value computation. Baseline value sensitivity was negatively correlated with benefit of enhancing information saliency only in older adults. As value representations in older decision makers are less distinctive at baseline, they may have required more environmental compensation than younger adults.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)86-98
Number of pages13
JournalNeurobiology of Aging
Volume99
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-8409-5390/work/142254911
Scopus 85098954843
ORCID /0000-0001-9684-7705/work/142252284
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/158767112

Keywords

Keywords

  • Aging Value-based decision-making Pupillometry Eye-blink rate

Library keywords