Department of Psychology, Gordon College, Wenham, MA, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
Neuropsychologia. 2022 Dec 15;177:108399. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108399. Epub 2022 Nov 1.
Older adults make fewer utilitarian decisions than younger adults during sacrificial moral dilemmas, which are associated with age-related reductions in Default Mode Network resting-state functional connectivity. Decreases on tasks associated with fluid cognitive abilities, such as working memory capacity, are also associated with age-related Default Mode Network changes. Regions within this network demonstrate some of the greatest age-related gray matter atrophy. Age-related changes in structure and function of the Default Mode Network may be associated with poorer working memory capacity and reduced utilitarian moral decision-making. Alternatively, recent theories suggest that age-related changes to Default Mode Network function may be adaptive in the context of tasks that include socioemotional components. As such, reduced within-network resting-state functional connectivity of the Default Mode Network may be associated with differential outcomes in moral decision-making for younger and older adults. In the present study, there were no age-related differences in working memory capacity. Older adults were less likely than younger adults to indicate the utilitarian option when trials involved Instrumental harm. Generally, increased within-network resting-state functional connectivity of the Default Mode Network was associated with better working memory performance in both groups, and reduced bias to endorse the utilitarian option during Incidental dilemmas compared to Instrumental dilemmas in younger adults. Older adults with similar moral decision-making behavior to younger adults demonstrated increased coupling between Default Mode Network and Salience Network regions. These findings suggest that Default Mode Network functional integrity may be differentially associated with age-related changes to working memory capacity and sacrificial moral decision-making.
老年人在牺牲性道德困境中做出的功利决策比年轻人少，这与默认模式网络静息态功能连接随年龄的相关性降低有关。与流体认知能力相关的任务（如工作记忆容量）的下降也与与年龄相关的默认模式网络变化有关。该网络内的区域表现出一些与年龄相关的灰质萎缩最大。默认模式网络的结构和功能随年龄的变化可能与较差的工作记忆能力和减少的功利道德决策有关。或者，最近的理论表明，默认模式网络功能的与年龄相关的变化在包括社会情感成分的任务中可能是适应性的。因此，默认模式网络的静息态功能连接减少可能与年轻和年长成年人的道德决策的不同结果有关。在本研究中，工作记忆容量与年龄无关。与年轻人相比，老年人在涉及工具性伤害的试验中不太可能选择功利选项。一般来说，在两组中，默认模式网络的网络内静息态功能连接增加与工作记忆表现更好相关，与工具性困境相比，年轻人在偶然困境中对功利选项的认可偏见减少。与年轻人的道德决策行为相似的老年人表现出默认模式网络和显着性网络区域之间的耦合增加。这些发现表明，默认模式网络的功能完整性可能与工作记忆能力和牺牲性道德决策的年龄相关变化有差异相关。
