Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Emily J. Hird, Ulrik Beierholm, Lieke De Boer, Jan Axelsson, Lars Backman, Marc Guitart-Masip
Summary: The study found that the impact of reward on response vigor is similar in younger and older adults, and weakly correlated with dopamine D1 receptor availability.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jana Lubec, Ahmed M. Hussein, Predrag Kalaba, Daniel Daba Feyissa, Edgar Arias-Sandoval, Anita Cybulska-Klosowicz, Mekite Bezu, Tamara Stojanovic, Volker Korz, Jovana Malikovic, Nilima Y. Aher, Martin Zehl, Vladimir Dragacevic, Johann Jakob Leban, Claudia Sagheddu, Judith Wackerlig, Marco Pistis, Merce Correa, Thierry Langer, Ernst Urban, Harald Hoeger, Gert Lubec
Summary: The worldwide increase in cognitive decline calls for the search of pharmacological treatment. Current dopamine transporter (DAT) inhibitors have unwanted side effects due to lack of specificity. A highly specific DAT inhibitor, S-CE-123, was synthesized and tested for its potential to enhance cognitive functions in rats. S-CE-123 showed good bioavailability and improved the performance of aged rats.
Article
Cell Biology
Eugene Lin, Po-Hsiu Kuo, Wan-Yu Lin, Yu-Li Liu, Albert C. Yang, Shih-Jen Tsai
Summary: The study suggests that genetic variants in dopamine receptor-related loci may influence cognitive aging individually and through gene-physical activity interactions. Three novel genes associated with cognitive aging were identified: ZBTB20, NCAM1, and TTC12. Additionally, interplays between physical activity and these three novel genes were found.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sam Hall-McMaster, Peter Dayan, Nicolas W. Schuck
Summary: In structured foraging environments with limited, revisitable sites, individuals tend to visit fast-replenishing sites more frequently and are influenced by reward information about unattended sites when making decisions to leave a site.
Article
Neurosciences
Bernadette Hippmann, Elinor Tzvi, Martin Goettlich, Ronja Weiblen, Thomas F. Muente, Sarah Jessen
Summary: This study found that while prospective punishment can facilitate task switching at a behavioral level, interactions between IFJ, ACC, and VTA are modulated through prospective reward rather than punishment to impact cognitive control. The results demonstrate that IFJ and VTA modulate ACC activity in parallel rather than through interaction, showing differential effects of prospective reward and punishment on neural control mechanisms for decision-making.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Kristin N. Meyer, Juliet Y. Davidow, Koene R. A. Van Dijk, Rosario M. Santillana, Jenna Snyder, Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante, Marissa Hollinshead, Bruce R. Rosen, Leah H. Somerville, Margaret A. Sheridan
Summary: The study aimed to characterize the impact of stimuli with a history of conditioned reward association on inhibitory control in healthy young adults. Results showed that a history of reward conditioning disrupted inhibitory control, with higher activity in frontal and striatal regions when inhibiting responses to previously rewarded stimuli compared to non-rewarded stimuli.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Juan Perez-Fernandez, Marta Barandela, Cecilia Jimenez-Lopez
Summary: Dopamine is a widely studied neurotransmitter due to its link to motor deficits in Parkinson's disease. Recent research in basal vertebrates, particularly lampreys, has provided insights into the evolution of the dopaminergic system, shedding light on the role of SNc/VTA neurons in modulating motor responses through the basal ganglia. The findings suggest that the key functions of the SNc/VTA dopaminergic neurons in controlling motor responses were already well-established in early vertebrate evolution.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Heather E. Soder, Jessica A. Cooper, Paula Lopez-Gamundi, Jennifer K. Hoots, Cecilia Nunez, Victoria M. Lawlor, Scott D. Lane, Michael T. Treadway, Margaret C. Wardle
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the effects of different doses of d-amphetamine on effort for reward and reward learning in healthy volunteers. The results indicated that d-amphetamine increased willingness to exert effort, particularly at low to intermediate expected values of reward, due to decreased effort discounting. Baseline effort and working memory also moderated this effect, with d-amphetamine increasing effort more in individuals with lower working memory and lower baseline effort.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Laura Ferreri, Ernest Mas-Herrero, Gemma Cardona, Robert J. Zatorre, Rosa M. Antonijoan, Marta Valle, Jordi Riba, Pablo Ripolles, Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
Summary: This study investigates the role of dopamine in driving memory improvements through musical rewards, highlighting that individual differences in reward processing and dopamine signaling can modulate the relationship between musical rewards and memory outcomes. Participants with high musical reward sensitivity showed better memory outcomes when experiencing greater pleasure, underscoring the flexibility of the human dopaminergic system to enhance memory formation through abstract rewards like music.
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Ja-Hyun Baik
Summary: Dopamine plays a critical role in the control of feeding behavior by linking energy state-associated signals to reward-related behaviors, through both the reward-related circuit and the homeostatic hypothalamic system.
ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniel J. Christoffel, Jessica J. Walsh, Paul Hoerbelt, Boris D. Heifets, Pierre Llorach, Ricardo C. Lopez, Charu Ramakrishnan, Karl Deisseroth, Robert C. Malenka
Summary: The study reveals that dopamine and serotonin modulate excitatory synaptic transmission in the nucleus accumbens in input-specific ways, influencing motivated behaviors differently. Endogenous release of DA and 5-HT, as well as optogenetic inhibition, alter the behavioral effects of drugs in distinct manners.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Alba Tor-Roca, Alex Sanchez-Pla, Aniko Korosi, Merce Pallas, Paul J. Lucassen, Pol Castellano-Escuder, Ludwig Aigner, Raul Gonzalez-Dominguez, Claudine Manach, Francisco Carmona, Esteban Vegas, Catherine Helmer, Catherine Feart, Sophie Lefevre-Arbogast, Jeanne Neuffer, Hyunah Lee, Sandrine Thuret, Cristina Andres-Lacueva, Cecilia Samieri, Mireia Urpi-Sarda
Summary: This study found that greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with lower odds of cognitive decline in older adults.
MOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Omar Taleb, Mohammed Maammar, Christian Klein, Michel Maitre, Ayikoe Guy Mensah-Nyagan
Summary: Xanthurenic acid (XA) is a metabolite of the kynurenine pathway synthesized in the brain from dietary or microbial tryptophan, suspected to modulate some pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric and/or neurodegenerative diseases. Studies have shown that XA may play an important role in the endocrine system and could affect normal dopaminergic activity in the brain.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Albert Kok
Summary: This article provides a unified systematic account of the role of cognitive control, motivation and dopamine pathways in relation to the development of fatigue. It focuses on the motivation-control interactions at the level of brain networks and how fatigue affects the connectivity of these networks during effortful exertion. The article also proposes a cost-benefit model to explain how fatigue changes motivation to perform.
BRAIN AND COGNITION
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Ashley C. Parr, Finnegan Calabro, Brenden Tervo-Clemmens, Bart Larsen, Will Foran, Beatriz Luna
Summary: Inhibitory control can be less reliable in adolescence, but in the presence of rewards, adolescents' performance often improves to adult levels. Dopamine plays a role in enhancing the effects of reward on adolescent cognition and inhibitory control. Basal ganglia neurophysiology supports developmental effects of rewards on cognition, particularly during adolescence.
DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Kendra L. Seaman, Eric J. Juarez, Addison Troutman, Joanna M. Salerno, Silvia P. Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin
Summary: The Covid-19 pandemic has affected individuals' choices regarding monetary, health, and social rewards. Older adults are more inclined to prefer smaller, sooner social and health-related rewards in decision-making tasks. These age differences in motivation for rewards need to be taken into account when studying decision-making across the adult life span.
AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION
(2023)
Article
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Isabel J. Sible, Jung Yun Jang, Shubir Dutt, Belinda Yew, John Paul M. Alitin, Yanrong Li, Anna E. Blanken, Jean K. Ho, Anisa J. Marshall, Arunima Kapoor, Fatemah Shenasa, Aimee Gaubert, Amy Nguyen, Virginia E. Sturm, Mara Mather, Kathleen E. Rodgers, Xingfeng Shao, Danny J. Wang, Daniel A. Nation
Summary: Elevated blood pressure variability is associated with decreased cerebrovascular reactivity, indicating potential early markers of cerebrovascular dysfunction and disease.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HYPERTENSION
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Kaoru Nashiro, Jungwon Min, Hyun Joo Yoo, Christine Cho, Shelby L. Bachman, Shubir Dutt, Julian F. Thayer, Paul M. Lehrer, Tiantian Feng, Noah Mercer, Padideh Nasseri, Diana Wang, Catie Chang, Vasilis Z. Marmarelis, Shri Narayanan, Daniel A. Nation, Mara Mather
Summary: Heart rate variability is a biomarker of emotional well-being, and modulating heart rate oscillatory activity can change emotion network coordination in the brain.
COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Lauren T. Seabrook, Lindsay Naef, Corey Baimel, Allap K. Judge, Tyra Kenney, Madelyn Ellis, Temoor Tayyab, Mataea Armstrong, Min Qiao, Stan B. Floresco, Stephanie L. Borgland
Summary: The lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) is involved in integrating sensory information about food and expected outcomes to regulate feeding behavior. In this study, it was found that the lOFC also plays a role in the cognitive control of behavior in obesity. Obesity leads to inflexible food-seeking behavior due to reduced inhibitory drive in the lOFC. Restoring inhibitory neurotransmission in the lOFC reinstates flexible behavior in obese mice. These findings suggest that obesity-induced disinhibition of the lOFC affects decision-making in an obesogenic environment.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Brandon J. Forys, Ryan J. Tomm, Dayana Stamboliyska, Alex R. Terpstra, Luke Clark, Trisha Chakrabarty, Stan B. Floresco, Rebecca M. Todd
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between anxiety and depression levels and performance in effortful active and inhibitory avoidance as well as reward seeking. The results showed that men exerted more effort than women in both avoidance and reward-seeking tasks, and higher anxiety scores were associated with worse performance in active reward-seeking. Additionally, gender interacted with anxiety scores and inhibitory avoidance performance, with women showing worse avoidance performance when they had higher anxiety levels.
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Kei Kuratomi, Laura Johnsen, Shinji Kitagami, Aya Hatano, Kou Murayama
Summary: Research has shown that we have the ability to self-motivate without external incentives. However, little research has been done to investigate our accurate understanding of the power of intrinsic motivation. This study aimed to examine the accuracy of our metacognitive predictions regarding our motivation levels without performance-based extrinsic incentives. The results consistently showed that participants were more engaged in tasks than they predicted, suggesting that we tend to underestimate our ability to sustain motivation without external rewards.
MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Jungwon Min, Julian Koenig, Kaoru Nashiro, Hyun Joo Yoo, Christine Cho, Julian F. Thayer, Mara Mather
Summary: Previous studies suggest that sex differences in emotion regulation ability contribute to sex disparities in affective disorders. Females rely more on maladaptive strategies to cope with emotional distress, while males regulate emotion more efficiently. However, physiological studies show that females have higher resting heart rate variability, indicating better control of emotion. To resolve these inconsistencies, we examined sex differences in how resting heart rate variability relates to brain activity during cognitive reappraisal.
Article
Psychiatry
Youngmee Kim, Jue Lin, Elissa S. S. Epel, Charles S. S. Carver
Summary: This study examined the bidirectional relations between the perceived stress of family caregivers of individuals recently diagnosed with cancer and leukocyte cellular aging indexed by telomere length. The findings suggest that cancer-related stress can affect telomere length, highlighting the need for further research on the impact of cancer caregiving on cellular aging.
PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Gerontology
Morgan K. Taylor, Elizabeth J. Marsh, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin
Summary: Research on aging and decision-making has grown in recent years, but little is known about how reliance on classic heuristics may differ across adulthood. In a study of participants aged 20-90 years old, it was found that both younger and older adults employed various heuristics equally to make decisions, except for the sunk-cost bias where older adults were more likely to avoid this fallacy.
PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING
(2023)
Article
Health Policy & Services
Youngmee Kim, Amanda Ting, Thomas C. C. Tsai, Charles S. S. Carver
Summary: This study aimed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a newly developed dyadic sleep intervention (MSOS) for adult patients with cancer and their caregivers. The results showed that the intervention had a positive effect on sleep efficiency for both patients and caregivers.
PALLIATIVE & SUPPORTIVE CARE
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan K. Taylor, Audra Davidson, Joshua S. Weitz, Stephen J. Beckett, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin
Summary: Communicating health risks empowers individuals to make informed decisions. Specific scenarios are effective in motivating engagement, regardless of age and political attitudes. Personal relevance and emotional valence do not have an impact on interest in COVID-19 risks. Overall, evoking specific scenarios facilitates risk communication to a broad audience.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN MEMORY AND COGNITION
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Sade J. Abiodun, Joanna M. Salerno, Galen A. Mcallister, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin, Kendra L. Seaman
Summary: This study investigated age-related differences in evoked responses to dynamic facial expressions. The results showed that older adults rated positive facial expressions (happy) more positively and negative facial expressions (angry and sad) more negatively than younger adults in terms of valence. However, there was no significant difference in arousal to negative expressions between older and younger adults. Overall, the findings suggest that older adults may be more sensitive to variations in dynamic facial expressions, particularly in terms of valence estimates.
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES B-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Psychology, Educational
Hayley K. Jach, Lisa Bardach, Kou Murayama
Summary: The field of personality psychology has a significant contribution to educational research, but there are common misconceptions that hinder their integration. Three misconceptions about personality psychology are addressed: the existence of personality types, fixed personality, and the belief that personality disregards the importance of situations. Four ways in which personality psychology can assist educational aims are discussed: improving prediction of educational outcomes, informing educational interventions, supporting the academic development of all learners, and using personality as target outcomes for education. This paper aims to inspire and motivate researchers to advance the synthesis between these two disciplines.
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan K. Taylor, Joshua S. Weitz, Stephen J. Beckett, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin
MMWR-MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT
(2023)
Article
Gerontology
Jaime J. Castrellon, David H. Zald, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin, Kendra L. Seaman
Summary: Developmental literature suggests that susceptibility to social conformity pressure decreases with age, and older adults are better at controlling their desires compared to younger adults in the presence of others enacting that desire.
PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING
(2023)