Journal
CEREBRAL CORTEX
Volume 33, Issue 5, Pages 1768-1781Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac171
Keywords
decision-making; reinforcement-learning; model-based; model-free; task demands; single-trial EEG; ERP
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Under high cognitive demands, older adults tend to rely on simpler and habitual decision strategies due to impairments in the representation of cognitive maps or state spaces. The neural mechanisms underlying this shift in decision behavior are still unclear.
Under high cognitive demands, older adults tend to resort to simpler, habitual, or model-free decision strategies. This age-related shift in decision behavior has been attributed to deficits in the representation of the cognitive maps, or state spaces, necessary for more complex model-based decision-making. Yet, the neural mechanisms behind this shift remain unclear. In this study, we used a modified 2-stage Markov task in combination with computational modeling and single-trial EEG analyses to establish neural markers of age-related changes in goal-directed decision-making under different demands on the representation of state spaces. Our results reveal that the shift to simpler decision strategies in older adults is due to (i) impairments in the representation of the transition structure of the task and (ii) a diminished signaling of the reward value associated with decision options. In line with the diminished state space hypothesis of human aging, our findings suggest that deficits in goal-directed, model-based behavior in older adults result from impairments in the representation of state spaces of cognitive tasks.
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