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Risk Taking for Potential Reward Decreases across the Lifespan.

ABSTRACT: The extent to which aging affects decision-making is controversial. Given the critical financial decisions that older adults face (e.g., managing retirement funds), changes in risk preferences are of particular importance [1]. Although some studies have found that older individuals are more risk averse than younger ones [2-4], there are also conflicting results, and a recent meta-analysis found no evidence for a consistent change in risk taking across the lifespan [5]. There has as yet been little examination of one potential substrate for age-related changes in decision-making, namely age-related decline in dopamine, a neuromodulator associated with risk-taking behavior. Here, we characterized choice preferences in a smartphone-based experiment (n = 25,189) in which participants chose between safe and risky options. The number of risky options chosen in trials with potential gains but not potential losses decreased gradually over the lifespan, a finding with potentially important economic consequences for an aging population. Using a novel approach-avoidance computational model, we found that a Pavlovian attraction to potential reward declined with age. This Pavlovian bias has been linked to dopamine, suggesting that age-related decline in this neuromodulator could lead to the observed decrease in risk taking.

SUBMITTER: Rutledge RB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4920952 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Risk Taking for Potential Reward Decreases across the Lifespan.

Rutledge Robb B RB Smittenaar Peter P Zeidman Peter P Brown Harriet R HR Adams Rick A RA Lindenberger Ulman U Dayan Peter P Dolan Raymond J RJ

Current biology : CB 20160602 12

The extent to which aging affects decision-making is controversial. Given the critical financial decisions that older adults face (e.g., managing retirement funds), changes in risk preferences are of particular importance [1]. Although some studies have found that older individuals are more risk averse than younger ones [2-4], there are also conflicting results, and a recent meta-analysis found no evidence for a consistent change in risk taking across the lifespan [5]. There has as yet been litt ...[more]

PMID: 27265392

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Project description:Circadian rhythm disturbances have long been associated with the development of psychiatric disorders, including mood and substance use disorders. Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable time for the onset of psychiatric disorders and for circadian rhythm and sleep disruptions. Preclinical studies have found that circadian rhythm disruption (CRD) impacts the brain and behavior, but this research is largely focused on adult disruptions. Here, we sought to determine the long-term behavioral and neurobiological effects of CRD during early adolescence by exposing mice to 12 h shifts in the light/dark cycle. We hypothesized that adolescent CRD would have a greater effect on psychiatric-related behaviors, relative to adult disruption. To identify possible mechanisms, we also measured gene expression in brain regions relevant to circadian rhythms, mood and reward. We found that disruption during early adolescence, but not adulthood, persistently increased exploratory drive (risk-taking behavior) and cocaine preference when tested later in life. Interestingly, we found sex differences when intravenous cocaine self-administration was tested. While female mice with a history of adolescent CRD had a greater propensity to self-administer cocaine, as well as increased motivation and cue-induced reinstatement, male adolescent CRD mice had reduced motivation and extinction responding. Overall, adolescent CRD in mice caused persistent increases in risky behavior, cocaine reward and cocaine self-administration, which suggests that CRD during adolescence may predispose individuals towards substance use disorders. Importantly, we found that many transcripts were affected by adolescent CRD and these were largely distinct across sex and brain region. Future research is required to elucidate how adolescent CRD affects behaviors relevant to mood- and substance use-related disorders across the 24-hour day, as well as to identify intervention strategies to alleviate disruption during adolescence and novel therapeutic approaches once symptoms have begun.

Dataset Information

Risk Taking for Potential Reward Decreases across the Lifespan.

Publications

Risk Taking for Potential Reward Decreases across the Lifespan.

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