Neurobiological Mechanisms of Aging and Stress on Prospective Navigation
Georgia Institute of Technology
Summary
Two hallmarks of both healthy aging and age-related disease are 1) memory and navigational deficits, particularly in orienting towards goal locations and planning how to navigate to them, and 2) increased susceptibility to stress and altered regulation of the stress response. However, there are marked individual differences in these age-related changes. The investigators' proposal will help characterize factors that contribute to this variability. Participants will be pseudorandomly assigned to stress-manipulated or control groups. The investigators will give both groups a novel immersive navigation task, validated by the PI in healthy young adults. This paradigm gives participants the opportunity to either (a) flexibly draw on spatial memory in order to plan efficient routes to goal locations, or (b) fall back on inefficient, but cognitively less-demanding, stimulus-response associations (i.e., habits). Using neuroimaging and behavioral measures, the investigators' protocol will test whether experimentally-induced stress leads individuals to bring fewer details about future locations to mind when route planning, and whether such restricted prospective thought ultimately biases participants towards relatively inflexible, habitual actions.
Description
Two hallmarks of both healthy aging and age-related disease are 1) memory and navigational deficits, particularly in orienting towards goal locations and planning how to navigate to them, and 2) increased susceptibility to stress and altered regulation of the stress response. However, there are marked individual differences in these age-related changes. The investigators' proposal will help characterize factors that contribute to this variability. The investigators propose a study that utilizes cutting-edge imaging and virtual reality techniques to characterize the neural mechanisms of prospe…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 65–80 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * adults 65-80 * U.S. citizens or permanent residents * who speak fluent English * willing to come to Georgia Tech to participate in group testing sessions. Exclusion Criteria: * Individuals will be carefully screened using IRB-approved procedures for safety contraindications to MRI and electrical shock stimulation * (e.g., metal or electrical implants, heart arrhythmia, or medication affecting the cardiovascular system \[e.g. beta-blockers\]). The purpose of this study is to investigate mechanisms of normally functioning memory, and memory-related changes in healthy ag…
Interventions
- BehavioralAnticipatory psychological stress
Unpredictable delivery of low-level electrical stimulation to left ankle periodically throughout psychology tasks (virtual navigation). Established procedure for inducing anticipatory stress.
Location
- Center for Advance Brain ImagingAtlanta, Georgia