Williams Ryan S, Biel Anna Lena, Dyson Benjamin J, Spaniol Julia
Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
Brain Cogn. 2017 Feb;111:171-181. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2016.12.003. Epub 2016 Dec 28.
Adaptive gain theory (Aston-Jones & Cohen, 2005) suggests that the phasic release of norepinephrine (NE) to cortical areas reflects changes in the utility of ongoing tasks. In the context of aging, this theory raises interesting questions, given that the motivations of older adults differ from those of younger adults. According to socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999), aging is associated with greater emphasis on emotion-regulation goals, leading older adults to prioritize positive over negative information. This suggests that the phasic release of NE in response to threatening stimuli may be diminished in older adults. In the present study, younger adults (aged 18-34years) and older adults (60-82years) completed the Attention Network Test (ANT), modified to include an incentive manipulation. A behavioral index of attentional alerting served as a marker of phasic arousal. For younger adults, this marker correlated with the effect of both gain and loss incentives on performance. For older adults, in contrast, the correlation between phasic arousal and incentive sensitivity held for gain incentives only. These findings suggest that the enlistment of phasic NE activity may be specific to approach-oriented motivation in older adults.
适应性增益理论（阿斯顿 - 琼斯和科恩，2005年）表明，去甲肾上腺素（NE）向皮质区域的阶段性释放反映了当前任务效用的变化。在衰老的背景下，鉴于老年人的动机与年轻人不同，该理论提出了有趣的问题。根据社会情感选择性理论（卡斯滕森、艾萨克维茨和查尔斯，1999年），衰老与更加强调情绪调节目标相关，导致老年人将积极信息置于消极信息之上。这表明，老年人对威胁性刺激做出反应时NE的阶段性释放可能会减少。在本研究中，年轻人（18 - 34岁）和老年人（60 - 82岁）完成了经修改以纳入激励操作的注意力网络测试（ANT）。注意力警觉的行为指标作为阶段性唤醒的标志。对于年轻人，该标志与收益和损失激励对表现的影响均相关。相比之下，对于老年人，阶段性唤醒与激励敏感性之间的相关性仅存在于收益激励方面。这些发现表明，阶段性NE活动的参与可能特定于老年人以趋近为导向的动机。
