Risk Taking for Potential Reward Decreases across the Lifespan.
The extent to which aging affects decision-making is controversial. Given the critical financial decisions that older adults face (e.g., managing retirement funds), changes in risk preferences are of particular importance [1]. Although some studies have found that older individuals are more risk averse than younger ones [2-4], there are also conflicting results, and a recent meta-analysis found no evidence for a consistent change in risk taking across the lifespan [5]. There has as yet been little examination of one potential substrate for age-related changes in decision-making, namely age-related decline in dopamine, a neuromodulator associated with risk-taking behavior. Here, we characterized choice preferences in a smartphone-based experiment (n = 25,189) in which participants chose between safe and risky options. The number of risky options chosen in trials with potential gains but not potential losses decreased gradually over the lifespan, a finding with potentially important economic consequences for an aging population. Using a novel approach-avoidance computational model, we found that a Pavlovian attraction to potential reward declined with age. This Pavlovian bias has been linked to dopamine, suggesting that age-related decline in this neuromodulator could lead to the observed decrease in risk taking.
Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Electronic address: robb.rutledge@ucl.ac.uk.
Robb B
RB
Rutledge
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Peter
P
Smittenaar
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Peter
P
Zeidman
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Harriet R
HR
Brown
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Rick A
RA
Adams
Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany; European University Institute, San Domenico di Fiesole, 50014 Fiesole, Italy.
Ulman
U
Lindenberger
Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London W1T 4JG, UK.
Peter
P
Dayan
Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Raymond J
RJ
Dolan
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000172:deficiency*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D055815:Young Adult
D004298:Dopamine