RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Broadscale dampening of uncertainty adjustment in the aging brain
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2023.07.14.549093
DO 10.1101/2023.07.14.549093
A1 Kosciessa, Julian Q.
A1 Mayr, Ulrich
A1 Lindenberger, Ulman
A1 Garrett, Douglas D.
YR 2023
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/07/18/2023.07.14.549093.abstract
AB The ability to prioritize task-relevant inputs enables efficient behavior across the human lifespan. However, contexts in which feature relevance is ambiguous require dynamic exploration rather than stable selectivity. Although both cognitive flexibility and stability generally decline with ageing, it is unknown whether the aging brain differentially adjusts to changing uncertainty. Here, we comprehensively assess the dynamic range of uncertainty adjustments across the adult lifespan (N = 100) via behavioral modelling and a theoretically informed set of human neuroimaging signatures (EEG-, fMRI-, and pupil-based). As a group, older adults show a broadscale dampening of neuro-computational uncertainty adjustments. In support of a “maintenance” account of brain aging, older individuals with more young-like neural recruitment were better able to select task-relevant features, also in a Stroop task with low perceptual demands. Our results highlight neural mechanisms whose maintenance plausibly enables flexible task set, perception, and decision computations across the adult lifespan.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.