Strength of Structural and Functional Frontostriatal Connectivity Predicts Self-Control in the Healthy Elderly.

Self-regulation refers to the successful use of executive functions and initiation of top-down processes to control one's thoughts, behavior, and emotions, and it is crucial to perform self-control. Self-control is needed to overcome impulses and can be assessed by delay of gratification (DoG) and delay discounting (DD) paradigms. In children/adolescents, good DoG/DD ability depends on the maturity of frontostriatal connectivity, and its decline in strength with advancing age might adversely affect self-control because prefrontal brain regions are more prone to normal age-related atrophy than other regions.

Structural brain correlates of delay of gratification in the elderly.

Delay of gratification (DoG) refers to the ability to postpone immediate rewards in favor of later and better rewards. A successful DoG in children/adolescents is subject to the maturation of the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex, which is more prone to normal age-related atrophy compared with other brain regions. Therefore, we investigated morphological brain correlates of DoG using structural MRI surface-based morphometry as well as determined whether dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) atrophy is related to DoG in the elderly.

Depressive symptoms in later life: differential impact of social support and motivational processes on depression in individuals with and without cognitive impairment.

This study investigates the role of a motivational process based on a composite of four subcomponents (self-efficacy, decision regulation, activation regulation and motivation regulation), as a mediator of the relationship between social support and depression assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale in cognitively impaired and unimpaired individuals. Participants were 229 adults with a mean age of 74 years (range: 52-94 years). The sample comprised 64 participants diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 47 participants diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD), and a group of 118 participants without any cognitive impairment.

Caregiver rating bias in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease: impact of caregiver burden and depression on dyadic rating discrepancy across domains.

Background: Caregivers of individuals with dementia are biased in their rating of mental health measures of the care receiver. This study examines caregiver burden and depression as predictors of this bias for mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease in different domains.

Methods: The sample consisted of 202 persons: 60 with mild cognitive impairment, 41 with mild Alzheimer's disease, and 101 caregivers.

Delay of gratification in old age: assessment, age-related effects, and clinical implications.

Delay of gratification (DoG), the ability to reject immediately available smaller rewards in favor of later larger rewards, has been a topic of continuous research interest for almost 60 years. Although numerous studies have explored this construct and its effects on wellbeing, social behavior, cognitive abilities, and academic success in children, DoG studies in adulthood and old age are scarce. Instead, delay discounting (DD), that is, the degree to which individuals devalue delayed rewards, has been used in samples of adults and older individuals, and is of particular interest in clinical studies.