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• Aging is associated with changes in sleep, cognitive function, and FNC. • We studied how sleep affects the link between FNC and cognition in the elderly. • sFNC and temporal variability of dFNC-var and dFNC-state were calculated. • Sleep modulated the association between dFNC and cognitive function. Aging is associated with changes in sleep, brain activity, and cognitive function, as well as the association among these factors; however, the precise nature of these changes has not been elucidated. This study systematically investigated the modulatory effect of sleep on the relationship between brain functional network connectivity (FNC) and cognitive function in older adults. In total, 107 community-dwelling healthy older adults were recruited and assigned into poor sleep and good sleep groups based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The static functional network connectivity (sFNC), the temporal variability of dynamic FNC (dFNC) from variance (dFNC-var), and the dFNC from clustering state (dFNC-state) were calculated. Corresponding cognition-predictive models were constructed for each sleep group. dFNC but not sFNC, was able to significantly predict the cognitive function in older adults. Specifically, sleep played a modulatory role in the association between dFNC and cognitive function, with sleep-specific variations at both microscopic (i.e., specific edges) and macroscopic levels (i.e., specific states) of dFNC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep is associated with cognitive function in older adults. In the current study, we examined this relationship from subjective and objective perspectives, and determined the robustness and dimensional specificity of the associations using a comprehensive modelling approach. Multiple dimensions of subjective (sleep quality and daytime sleepiness) and objective sleep (sleep stages, sleep parameters, sleep spindles, and slow oscillations), as well as subjectively reported and objectively measured cognitive function were collected from 55 older adults. Specification curve analysis was used to examine the robustness of correlations for the effects of sleep on cognitive function. Robust associations were found between sleep and objectively measured cognitive function, but not with subjective cognitive complaints. In addition, subjective sleep showed robust and consistent associations with global cognitive function, whereas objective sleep showed a more domain-specific association with episodic memory. Specifically, subjective sleep quality and daytime sleepiness correlated with global cognitive function, and objective sleep parameters correlated with episodic memory. Overall, associations between sleep and cognitive function in older adults depend on how they are measured and which specific dimensions of sleep and domains of cognitive function are considered. It highlights the importance of focusing on specific associations to ameliorate the detrimental effects of sleep disturbance on cognitive function in later life. • Robust associations were found between sleep and objective cognitive function, but not with subjective cognitive complaints. • Subjective sleep quality and daytime sleepiness showed robust associations with global cognitive function. • Objective sleep parameters showed a more domain-specific association with episodic memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People employ automatic inferential processing when confronting pragmatically implied claims in advertising. However, whether comprehension and memorization of pragmatic implications differ between young and older adults is unclear. In the present study, we used eye-tracking technology to investigate online cognitive processes during reading of misleading advertisements. We found an interaction between age and advertising content, manifested as our older participants generated higher misleading rates in health-related than in health-irrelevant products, whereas this content-bias did not appear in their younger counterparts. Eye movement data further showed that the older adults spent more time processing critical claims for the health-related products than for the health-irrelevant products. Moreover, the correlations between fixation duration on pragmatic implications and misleading rates showed opposite trends in the two groups. The eye-tracking evidence novelly suggests that young and older adults may adopt different information processing strategies to comprehend pragmatic implications in advertising: More reading possibly enhances young adults' gist memory whereas it facilitates older adults' verbatim memory instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The psychophysiological interaction analysis identified increased connection between VMPFC and DLPFC during risk taking. • Both young and older adults had the same winning model with the bidirectional connection between VMPFC and DLPFC. • Older adults exhibited up-regulation in several connections during risk taking compared with young counterparts. • Young adults' decision performance was negatively correlated with the modulation of DLPFC-to-VMPFC. • While older adults' decision performance was positively correlated with the modulation of AI-to-VMPFC. Previous studies have shown that aging is associated with changes in decision behavior. However, the neural mechanisms that underpin such age differences are inadequately understood. In this study, we aim to characterize the optimal neural model underlying a dynamic decision making task in both young and older adults, and further examine the age differences from the perspective of effective connectivity. Twenty-five young and 23 older adults performed a dynamic risk taking task, i.e., the balloon analogue risk task, in the functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The dynamic causal modeling analysis, with the coupling between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior insula (AI) that were identified in our task-related activation and psychophysiological interaction analysis, was performed to address the best fitting neural model and characterize age differences. Although both age groups adopted the same optimal model with bidirectional connection between the VMPFC and DLPFC, older adults exhibited up-regulation in several connections and among which the increased modulatory effect of AI-to-VMPFC subserving their decision quality. Our finding suggests that older adults might utilize different neural strategy via compensation to counteract the impact of advanced age in risk taking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Young adults are sensitive to the reducibility of uncertainty during belief updating. • Updating processes are quasi-optimal and valence-dependent. • Neural responses in frontoparietal regions show valence-dependent recruitments. • Valence asymmetry at behavioral and neural levels is correlated. Selective use of new information is crucial for adaptive decision-making. Combining a gamble bidding task with assessing cortical responses using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we investigated potential effects of information valence on behavioral and neural processes of belief and value updating during uncertainty reduction in young adults. By modeling changes in the participants' expressed subjective values using a Bayesian model, we dissociated processes of (i) updating beliefs about statistical properties of the gamble, (ii) updating values of a gamble based on new information about its winning probabilities, as well as (iii) expectancy violation. The results showed that participants used new information to update their beliefs and values about the gambles in a quasi-optimal manner, as reflected in the selective updating only in situations with reducible uncertainty. Furthermore, their updating was valence-dependent: information indicating an increase in winning probability was underweighted, whereas information about a decrease in winning probability was updated in good agreement with predictions of the Bayesian decision theory. Results of model-based and moderation analyses showed that this valence-dependent asymmetry was associated with a distinct contribution of expectancy violation, besides belief updating, to value updating after experiencing new positive information regarding winning probabilities. In line with the behavioral results, we replicated previous findings showing involvements of frontoparietal brain regions in the different components of updating. Furthermore, this study provided novel results suggesting a valence-dependent recruitment of brain regions. Individuals with stronger oxyhemoglobin responses during value updating was more in line with predictions of the Bayesian model while integrating new information that indicates an increase in winning probability. Taken together, this study provides first results showing expectancy violation as a contributing factor to sub-optimal valence-dependent updating during uncertainty reduction and suggests limitations of normative Bayesian decision theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]