Reward Dependent Invigoration Relates to Theta Oscillations and Is Predicted by Dopaminergic Midbrain Integrity in Healthy Elderly
Open Access
- 24 January 2017
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
Abstract
Motivation can have invigorating effects on behavior via dopaminergic neuromodulation. While this relationship has mainly been established in theoretical models and studies in younger subjects, the impact of structural declines of the dopaminergic system during healthy aging remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we used EEG in healthy young and elderly humans in a reward-learning paradigm. Specifically, scene images were initially encoded by combining them with cues predicting monetary reward (high vs. low reward). Subsequently, recognition memory for the scenes was tested. As a main finding, we can show that response times during encoding were faster for high reward predicting images in the young but not elderly participants. This pattern has resembled in power changes in the theta-band (4-7 Hz). Importantly, analyses of structural MRI data revealed that individual reward-related differences in the elderlies’ response time could be predicted by the structural integrity of the dopaminergic substantia nigra (as measured by magnetization transfer). These findings suggest a close relationship between reward-based invigoration, theta oscillations and age-dependent changes of the dopaminergic system.Funding Information
- Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
This publication has 70 references indexed in Scilit:
- Rhythms of the hippocampal networkNature Reviews Neuroscience, 2016
- Invigoration of Reward Seeking by Cue and Proximity Encoding in the Nucleus AccumbensNeuron, 2013
- FSLNeuroImage, 2012
- Vigor in the Face of Fluctuating Rates of Reward: An Experimental ExaminationJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2011
- Life Span Differences in Electrophysiological Correlates of Monitoring Gains and Losses during Probabilistic Reinforcement LearningJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2011
- FieldTrip: Open Source Software for Advanced Analysis of MEG, EEG, and Invasive Electrophysiological DataComputational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2010
- The Reward Circuit: Linking Primate Anatomy and Human ImagingNeuropsychopharmacology, 2009
- The Hippocampal-VTA Loop: Controlling the Entry of Information into Long-Term MemoryNeuron, 2005
- Anticipation of Increasing Monetary Reward Selectively Recruits Nucleus AccumbensJournal of Neuroscience, 2001
- Chapter 29 The nucleus accumbens: gateway for limbic structures to reach the motor system?Progress in Brain Research, 1996