Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Jul 15;70(2):131-7. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.10.013. Epub 2010 Dec 23.
Behavioral studies consistently reported an increased preference for positive experiences in older adults. The socio-emotional selectivity theory explains this positivity effect with a motivated goal shift in emotion regulation, which probably depends on available cognitive resources. The present study investigates the neurobiological mechanism underlying this hypothesis.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in 21 older and 22 young subjects while performing a spatial-cueing paradigm that manipulates attentional load on emotional face distracters. We focused our analyses on the anterior cingulate cortex as a key structure of cognitive control of emotion.
Elderly subjects showed a specifically increased distractibility by happy faces when more attentional resources were available for face processing. This effect was paralleled by an increased engagement of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, and this frontal engagement was significantly correlated with emotional stability.
The current study highlights how the brain might mediate the tendency to preferentially engage in positive information processing in healthy aging. The finding of a resource-dependency of this positivity effect suggests demanding self-regulating processes that are related to emotional well-being. These findings are of particular relevance regarding implications for the understanding, treatment, and prevention of nonsuccessful aging like highly prevalent late-life depression.
行为研究一致报告称，老年人对积极体验的偏好增加。社会情绪选择理论用情绪调节中的动机目标转移来解释这种积极性效应，这可能取决于可用的认知资源。本研究旨在探讨这一假设的神经生物学机制。
在 21 名老年人和 22 名年轻人中进行功能磁共振成像数据采集，同时进行空间提示范式，该范式可操纵情绪面孔分心物的注意力负荷。我们的分析集中在前扣带皮层上，因为它是情绪认知控制的关键结构。
当有更多的注意力资源可用于面部处理时，老年人对快乐面孔的分心程度明显增加。当有更多的注意力资源可用于面部处理时，这种效应伴随着前扣带皮层的活动增加，并且这种额叶参与与情绪稳定性显著相关。
本研究强调了大脑如何在健康衰老中调节优先参与积极信息处理的趋势。这种积极性效应的资源依赖性表明，需要进行与情绪幸福感相关的自我调节过程。这些发现对于理解、治疗和预防非成功老龄化（如高发的晚年抑郁症）具有特别重要的意义。
