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Neural and behavioral correlates of episodic memory are associated with temporal discounting in older adults

Lempert, Karolina M ; Mechanic-Hamilton, Dawn J ; Xie, Long ; Wisse, Laura E M LU orcid ; de Flores, Robin ; Wang, Jieqiong ; Das, Sandhitsu R ; Yushkevich, Paul A ; Wolk, David A and Kable, Joseph W (2020) In Neuropsychologia 146. p.107549-107549
Abstract

When facing decisions involving trade-offs between smaller, sooner and larger, delayed rewards, people tend to discount the value of future rewards. There are substantial individual differences in this tendency toward temporal discounting, however. One neurocognitive system that may underlie these individual differences is episodic memory, given the overlap in the neural circuitry involved in imagining the future and remembering the past. Here we tested this hypothesis in older adults, including both those that were cognitively normal and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We found that performance on neuropsychological measures of episodic memory retrieval was associated with temporal discounting, such that people... (More)

When facing decisions involving trade-offs between smaller, sooner and larger, delayed rewards, people tend to discount the value of future rewards. There are substantial individual differences in this tendency toward temporal discounting, however. One neurocognitive system that may underlie these individual differences is episodic memory, given the overlap in the neural circuitry involved in imagining the future and remembering the past. Here we tested this hypothesis in older adults, including both those that were cognitively normal and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We found that performance on neuropsychological measures of episodic memory retrieval was associated with temporal discounting, such that people with better memory discounted delayed rewards less. This relationship was specific to episodic memory and temporal discounting, since executive function (another cognitive ability) was unrelated to temporal discounting, and episodic memory was unrelated to risk tolerance (another decision-making preference). We also examined cortical thickness and volume in medial temporal lobe regions critical for episodic memory. Entorhinal cortical thickness was associated with reduced temporal discounting, with episodic memory performance partially mediating this association. The inclusion of MCI participants was critical to revealing these associations between episodic memory and entorhinal cortical thickness and temporal discounting. These effects were larger in the MCI group, reduced after controlling for MCI status, and statistically significant only when including MCI participants in analyses. Overall, these findings suggest that individual differences in temporal discounting are driven by episodic memory function, and that a decline in medial temporal lobe structural integrity may impact temporal discounting.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cognitive Dysfunction/physiopathology, Delay Discounting/physiology, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Episodic, Mental Recall/physiology, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Reward
in
Neuropsychologia
volume
146
pages
107549 - 107549
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85091264160
  • pmid:32621907
ISSN
1873-3514
DOI
10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107549
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
id
def7b733-b8de-4a7a-be9a-ed06b31e766a
date added to LUP
2024-02-28 14:40:21
date last changed
2024-04-14 00:19:02
@article{def7b733-b8de-4a7a-be9a-ed06b31e766a,
  abstract     = {{<p>When facing decisions involving trade-offs between smaller, sooner and larger, delayed rewards, people tend to discount the value of future rewards. There are substantial individual differences in this tendency toward temporal discounting, however. One neurocognitive system that may underlie these individual differences is episodic memory, given the overlap in the neural circuitry involved in imagining the future and remembering the past. Here we tested this hypothesis in older adults, including both those that were cognitively normal and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We found that performance on neuropsychological measures of episodic memory retrieval was associated with temporal discounting, such that people with better memory discounted delayed rewards less. This relationship was specific to episodic memory and temporal discounting, since executive function (another cognitive ability) was unrelated to temporal discounting, and episodic memory was unrelated to risk tolerance (another decision-making preference). We also examined cortical thickness and volume in medial temporal lobe regions critical for episodic memory. Entorhinal cortical thickness was associated with reduced temporal discounting, with episodic memory performance partially mediating this association. The inclusion of MCI participants was critical to revealing these associations between episodic memory and entorhinal cortical thickness and temporal discounting. These effects were larger in the MCI group, reduced after controlling for MCI status, and statistically significant only when including MCI participants in analyses. Overall, these findings suggest that individual differences in temporal discounting are driven by episodic memory function, and that a decline in medial temporal lobe structural integrity may impact temporal discounting.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lempert, Karolina M and Mechanic-Hamilton, Dawn J and Xie, Long and Wisse, Laura E M and de Flores, Robin and Wang, Jieqiong and Das, Sandhitsu R and Yushkevich, Paul A and Wolk, David A and Kable, Joseph W}},
  issn         = {{1873-3514}},
  keywords     = {{Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cognitive Dysfunction/physiopathology; Delay Discounting/physiology; Female; Humans; Male; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall/physiology; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Reward}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{107549--107549}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Neuropsychologia}},
  title        = {{Neural and behavioral correlates of episodic memory are associated with temporal discounting in older adults}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107549}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107549}},
  volume       = {{146}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}