Dopamine boosts motivation for prosocial effort in Parkinson's disease.

Being willing to exert effort to obtain rewards is a key component of motivation. Previous research has shown that boosting dopamine can increase the willingness to choose to exert effort to obtain rewards for ourselves. Yet often we must choose whether to exert effort, not for our own immediate benefit, but to be prosocial and obtain a benefit for someone else.

Aging Increases Prosocial Motivation for Effort.

Social cohesion relies on prosociality in increasingly aging populations. Helping other people requires effort, yet how willing people are to exert effort to benefit themselves and others, and whether such behaviors shift across the life span, is poorly understood. Using computational modeling, we tested the willingness of 95 younger adults (18-36 years old) and 92 older adults (55-84 years old) to put physical effort into self- and other-benefiting acts.

Using High Frequency Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation to Modulate Face Memory Performance in Younger and Older Adults: Lessons Learnt From Mixed Findings.

High-frequency transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) has been shown to improve a range of cognitive and perceptual abilities. Here we sought to examine the effects of a single session of tRNS targeted at the ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (VLPFC) on face memory in younger and older adults. To do so, we conducted three experiments.

Differential impact of behavioral, social, and emotional apathy on Parkinson's disease.

Apathy is highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease. New findings suggest the syndrome is multifaceted. Here, we investigate whether all aspects of apathy are equally affected in Parkinson's disease and whether different dimensions of apathy were associated with depression and anhedonia.